Monsters Attract
by BlackPepper3964
Summary: Tony Stark knows immediately that something is deeply wrong when he meets Kagome. He's always protected what was his, no matter what, and he's decided that Kagome is his. That means he'll do whatever it takes to free her. But first, he's got to find her. Oh! Hey, Loki, want to help?
1. Where We First Met

**Hey, guys! I'm sorry I haven't been uploading anything for like a month, but I've been quite busy. Even so, I've managed to start this delicious piece of work that I am, for once, happy with. ;) It's the first Avenger's fanfic I've ever done, so be kind... Enjoy!**

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Chapter 1: Where We First Met

Tony's first thought when he saw Pepper, and recognised her, in that wonderful blue low-backed dress was very simply, '_wow_'. And then Agent Phil Coulson arrived with someone that blew his mind - he could only observe. Long black hair, down to her waist, a black dress that fitted _very_ well, high heels that it made obvious that she under 5 ft 5", and a pretty face. Then he looked in her stormy blue eyes, and suddenly felt a protective instinct rise up in him that surprised him in it's ferocity. But he wasn't surprised in the why. Those eyes reminded him of the cave, how he must have looked like before Yinsen gave him a purpose, but in an advanced form, maybe if he'd been beaten and ripped apart emotionally many times during that time.

Her eyes, undoubtedly the most expressive part of her, relayed a different story to the rest of her body, in it's confident stance and cool superiority. Eyes that well masked everything in a veneer of boredom but, to the practised eye, told a very different story. She looked at everyone with indifference, except Agent Coulson. Agent Coulson was looked at with a strange mixture of hope, fear and understanding. There was a darkness in them that suggested that she knew far too much, had been through too much, and had suffered deeply for it. Agent Coulson ignored her presence like she was never there, though he looked at her with an unreadable expression for a moment, and she flinched - just enough for it to be noticeable to any who paid attention.

Then she finally looked at him in the eyes and he saw her expression change, just slightly, from bored indifference to _interest_. For a brief moment, he let the rage that had simmered under his skin from the moment he woke up in that cave, that violent, cornered-animal, instinctive rage, shine through his eyes. Her own widened and a smirk, darkly victorious, touched her lips, as she let out her own monster. He saw that it was stronger than his, taking up the entirety of her being when she dared to release it only a little, and he wondered how long she had been subject to whatever was happening - and it was obvious that it was an ongoing thing - and what would happen when she released it all. Would it destroy her as well as her enemies, or only her enemies?

Obviously, Agent Coulson had noticed the exchange between them, for as quickly as they had done it, a smirk was still on the mystery woman's lips and the monster was still visible for those that cared to look. And Agent Coulson had obviously cared to look. His eyes narrowed sharply as he looked at her and his right hand curled around her wrist gently. But Tony knew immediately that he was part of what was being done to this poor woman when she paled, her eyes went blank and the smirk vanished like it had never been there. His own monster growled under his skin, showing through his eyes for longer this time, and with more force. She noticed and swallowed with difficulty as something akin to hope flared in her eyes around the terror that had permeated them. She looked away with affected boredom. A silky smile appeared as she seemed to spot something, or someone. A impressive mask, even he wouldn't have been able to see through it if he hadn't seen her put it on. Her eyes were attentive and interested, none of the emptiness that was in them before.

"If you will excuse me, gentlemen," She purred lowly, practically radiating sex appeal and she lowered her lashes half-way. Agent Coulson looked at her in askance, and she smiled, ambiguity giving her leverage where she previously had none. He nodded his head, and she looked to Tony next. He put on his most gentle smile that looked somehow predatory and reached for her hand. She gave it and he held it to his lips in a light kiss.

"Leaving so soon, darling?" He asked teasingly. "I don't believe I know your name." She rose one eyebrow. _Try harder. I'm not so easy_, was what he got from that, so he did. "Might I have the pleasure of hearing it, so I may know what I may call you in my dreams?" She smiled a bit more genuinely and nodded her head graciously.

"You may." Her eyes glistened with light, and she was turned so Coulson couldn't see anything. "My name is Kagome." His eyebrows rose.

"No last name?" He asked, disappointed. She grinned secretively. Delight and power radiated from her eyes, something that she obviously didn't have enough of, despite that fact that he knew there was something… unearthly about her, about that light that shone in her eyes.

"I have no last name." Purple light shone for an instant in her eyes and he knew that he hadn't imagined it when she winked at him. "I am my own." The words had a strange authority and power and Tony found himself captivated by her. She saw his besotted expression that he knew he must be making, and softened. With not a look at Coulson, who now looked incredibly suspicious, she leaned forward, her monster in her eyes at it looked at him in approval. "We will meet again, worry not, Tony Stark." Then she winked and pulled her hand back, bowing slightly to both men, and glided gracefully away, making a beeline, he noticed, for Pepper.

His attention was grabbed by Agent Coulson calling his name. "Mr. Stark." He then carried on talking, but Tony had stopped listening. He was too busy watching as Kagome walked up to Pepper and, still radiating that sex appeal, asked her to dance. Pepper turned around as looked as if she was going to protest, but then she looked at who was asking, and did a double take. She seemed to be unaware that she'd accepted until she was dragged away from the people she was talking with and into the middle of the floor. She appeared flustered as Kagome curled her right arm around her waist, her grip firm but gentle, and the left hand held Pepper's right as she began to dance. Pepper automatically put her left hand on Kagome's right shoulder. They were silent for a moment, but then Kagome said something and Pepper smiled, embarrassed, as she responded. He vaguely heard Coulson mention a time and date as Pepper was lead away by Kagome to the stairs leading to the roof. He absentmindedly agreed and shook the Agent's hand, trying to ignore the slimy feeling he got when he suddenly remembered Kagome's face when the man hand curled the same hand around her wrist. He registered Coulson walking away and turned back to the bar, ordering three drinks that he planned to take to the roof.

While he was waiting, he saw the reporter he'd slept with and inwardly groaned. Great. He turned away, pretending he hadn't seen her, but she made right for him. She showed him the pictures and suddenly he forgot all about Kagome, and Pepper, and Coulson. All he could focus on was that someone inside _his_ company had betrayed him. He inwardly cursed that he didn't pay enough attention to his shipments when he got back home. He had wondered how the Ten Rings had gotten hold of so many of his weapons. And the fact that they were taken yesterday… oh, the self-loathing.

He went and confronted Obie, hoping he would reassure him, tell him that he'd help Tony find whoever had betrayed him, but instead found out that it was _Obie_ - no, _Stane_ - that had betrayed him, even going to far as to file an injunction against him and then - and then proclaim that he was doing it for Tony's own good and protection.

Oh, how the monster roared in his head then, and he knew that the next time that he and Kagome met, there would be more to show her, just as she would have more to show him. But first…

Time to deal with first his weapons… and then Obidiah Stane.

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**Whew! That went okay. This is a multi-chapter piece of work, but I'm not sure how long it's going to be, for once, so you'll have to be patient. Also, _Bow _has been put on hold for I don't know how long, and _Her Frightening Nature_ is also going on hold - probably for less time than Bow. The only for this is that all ideas for those stories have been shoved aside by a rather violent plot bunny that demanded this story be written... sorry. Let me know what you think of this story though and PM me if you have any questions! ;)  
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	2. An Alliance Can Be Made

**A treat, my friends! Enjoy!**

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Chapter 2: An Alliance Can Be Made

Kagome had said they'd meet again, but after Vanko, Tony doubted it and was then was called in one year and three and a half months after they met. Pepper and he had acknowledged that they had potential, but they both knew that she didn't understand him as well as she used to and there would be so much stress involved with not only dating a world-renowned playboy and billionaire, but also Iron Man as well - the stress would tear them apart. He never told her about his infatuation and fascination with Kagome, whom they both met in the same night, and she never said what she did up on the roof, though she didn't know that he was there. They were now closer friends than ever and they were celebrating the lighting up of Stark Tower, when Coulson interrupted.

The man still angered him, his blank expression and unruffled demeanour. Hated all he represented over a year ago, and probably still did represent. Tony still remember the blank fear and emptiness in Kagome's eyes. He'd searched everywhere for a hint of Kagome - the only place he hadn't checked yet was the SHIELD helicarrier for anything, and that was because he had to have manual access for it.

He looked over the information and realised that the threat was real. He turned to where Pepper and Coulson stood talking, minimising the projection.

"Hey, Coulson, do you mind giving Pepper a lift to the airport? She has to be in DC for tomorrow for a meeting." He said, feeling his monster purr in anticipation. Pepper looked at him shocked.

"How did you remember that? Why couldn't you remember your own meetings?" He winked at her, despite how serious he felt himself becoming.

"Maybe I just had better things to be doing." Pepper groaned. He smiled tightly. "I'll see you soon, Pep. I've just got this bit of consulting work to do, and then I'll be back in my workshop." He assured with a confidence he didn't feel. Pepper nodded and he felt momentary guilt from the lie. He locked gazes with Agent and the other man nodded, knowing to keep her safe. He dismissed them both with a wave and him turning back to the folder, his features darkening as he did so. Pepper called out a goodbye, but he didn't reply, enlarging the projection again and focussing on the Tesseract - that cube of pure energy his dad had found while trying to find Steve Rodgers. He snorted. Typical that he was found over fifteen years _after_ 'dear old dad's' death.

He spent that night reading Selvig's research into the Tesseract. It was mildly interesting, but he was more interested in Dr. Banner. His research in Gamma radiation and anti-electron collisions was simply brilliant. His ability to turn into a giant green rage monster earned some brownie points too. Just when he was starting to get into it, he got a call to go to Stuttgart in Germany as Loki was there. He called Jarvis to prep the suit and went to change out of his workshop clothes and into something more suited to be in public around.

When he got there, he noticed the famous Captain America fighting 'Loki of Asgard' and loosing miserably. With a sigh he overrode the PA system of the quinjet with awesome music and landed heavily - more heavily than necessary, he knew - on the pavement, cracking it slightly. He immediately attacked, and was surprised when Loki, for how hard he was apparently fighting earlier, just _gave up_. Behind the faceplate of his suit, Tony narrowed his eyes, knowing that the trickster God was up to something that he knew he wouldn't like. He shrugged though, when no one else seemed to realise it. Apart from Steve, maybe. He didn't seem to realise that Loki had a plan, as such, just that it was too easy, as he mentioned when they were all on board.

Tony took his helmet off and looked at this so-called God, and took pains to try to catch his eyes. He wanted to know what kind of man he was. Loki did a cursory look around the area, noticing the eyes on him. Tony let his monster roam free on his face for a few moments, watching as Loki recognised that and Tony was left stunned at the scope of Loki's monster, which was on par from what he'd seen in Kagome, as he let his roam free as well. Tony smirked and nodded in acknowledgement, getting one in return. Just monsters acknowledging each other, and maybe a bit of respect.

Then thunder and lightning had crackled overhead, and Loki's monster reared up, both in defence and alarm. Tony hid his own away just in time for Steve to look at him as he asked Loki if he was scared.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows."

Twenty minutes later, and Tony halfway sympathises with Loki, and he understands completely what he meant. _That much_ optimism… no. He doesn't understand why Loki hung around with this guy for so long. He'd heard their entire conversation via a bug he'd placed on Loki when they'd captured him, ready for when they locked him away - Tony wanted to know what was said to the God, how it was said, and when it was said. He especially enjoyed the comment Loki made after Tony had tackled Thor.

"You listen well, brother…"

"I'm listening."

The only thing that still put him on edge was the fact that Loki hadn't taken the chance to escape. His eyes narrowed, but resigned himself to not knowing and no one else being suspicious. He dropped of the suit in the room it was apparently supposed to go in and made his way to the bridge. He grinned and rubbed his hands together on the way, probably freaking out a lot of agents, but that was a bonus anyway. He couldn't wait to find out what kind of secrets SHIELD was trying to hide from him… and the rest of America. Maybe he'd find out about Kagome as well.

Jarvis alerted him that Loki is being spoken to, so he stopped in the corridor and listens. Fury spoke first.

"In case it's unclear, you try to escape, you so much as _scratch_ that glass? Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works? Ant. Boot." And he heard Loki's smirk as he replied.

"It's an impressive cage." He paused, building the tension. "Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for someone a lot stronger than you." And Tony felt anger again, because he knows exactly who Fury means. So does Loki, apparently.

"Oh, I've heard. The mindless beast, makes play to be a man." Tony noted the careful omission of the word monster, and knew it was because monsters are always hidden away, not in plain sight, always to be used at a later date in a controlled fashion. Then Loki's voice turned scathing. "How desperate are you? You call on such lost creatures to defend you."

"How _desperate_ am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate." He paused. "You may not be glad that you did." Tony frowned, thinking to himself that Fury's got this all wrong, he's making assumptions that are totally contradictory. For one, Loki's only killed about eighty people in the last two days - as far as Tony's concerned, that's restraint, as he killed about ninety-four in half an hour when he escaped from those terrorists. Nor has Loki actually threatened anybody with war, only that he was going to rule Earth. Also, Tony's pretty sure from Loki's conversation with Thor that he can, in fact, control the Tesseract.

To be honest, it sounds like most of this stuff is being made up on the spot, made to seem worse than it is, because - please, God, correct him if he's wrong - _Fury_ can't hope to control the Tesseract, and technically, from what he understands from the Norse Mythology, that cube of energy actually belongs to Odin All-Father. Though he suspected that the Mythology isn't completely accurate, considering that in that, Loki is Odin's blood-brother, not his - apparently - adopted son, judging by what Thor has said about 'putting and end to his brother's schemes' and that the two look nothing alike. He was willing to bet that Loki's still a frost giant.

He grinned when Loki spoke again with the relish of someone that cherished getting under someone else's skin. "Ooh. It _burns_ you to have come so _close_. To have the Tesseract, to have power - to have _unlimited_ power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share." He mocked, with obvious derision, and then his voice darkened with what Tony thought was experience and recently made memories. "And then to be reminded about what real power is." Fury remains unruffled by what Loki has said, it seems, when he next speaks, obviously choosing to ignore what Loki said.

"Well, let me know if '_real power_' wants a magazine or something." There's the sound of Fury walking out. For some reason, Tony can feel Loki's amusement clearly through the silence, though he might just be projecting. He knew that, from the tone of Loki's voice, that he wasn't talking about himself when it comes to real power, and a question forms in Tony's mind that he now desperately wants answered. He wondered if can organise a meeting with Loki with Jarvis. First though, he'll have to get the AI connected up to the mainframe.

He meets up with Coulson in the corridor and chatted about his Captain America cards, and then about his cellist in Portland. As they enter the bridge, he finished up with, "Look, just take a weekend. I'll _fly you_ to Portland." And receives a dismissive look in return as the agent goes to stand at the back of the room. The rest of the rag-tag group that he assumed will be called the Avengers were wondering why the iridium need to be stolen. He told them it's a stabilising agent so the portal won't collapse like at the PEGASUS research facility, mocked the agents and Fury while discreetly giving Jarvis direct access into the mainframe and finally meets Dr. Banner in person and told him what he likes so much about the recessive doctor. Then he joined the doctor in the helicarrier lab - which isn't too bad when it comes to tech, but he still stands that his workshop is better.

He and Banner bond really well, sparks flew between him and Steve - and not in the good way - and he gives comforting a go with Bruce about the Hulk before taking a bathroom break. On his way there, he took a detour and arranged Jarvis to set the cameras in Loki's cell on a two minute loop that actually connects so it doesn't look off.

Then he walked in and greets with, "Hey, don't move - I've set the cameras on a loop and it is _so_ awkward to explain a jump in a security camera that was working fine just moments ago." A bemused smile lifts Loki's lips.

"Stark, was it?" Tony waved it away.

"Just call me Tony." He stopped in front of the door. "I have three questions, if you'd be so gracious as to answer." Loki looked stunned for a moment at the directness of the statement.

"I can't promise anything, but I suppose so." He smiled, amused. Tony smiled in return.

"Awesome. I can understand that this is a sensitive subject for you, but I'd appreciate an answer all the same." Loki's face shifted into a frown, cautious now about what he's going to be asked. "I know you're pulling Barton and Selvig's strings, but, Loki… who's pulling _yours_?" The God's eyes flicker to blue for a moment before the monster in him rises and he snarls.

"You _dare_ imply that I am being controlled?" He hissed in outrage. Tony shrugged, now having all of the data he needed for that question.

"It doesn't matter if you don't answer. Just thought I'd ask." Loki stopped immediately, looking shocked.

"Does anyone know you're doing this?" He asked, the amusement coming back and Tony smirks wickedly.

"Nope. This is just between you and me. No one else needs to know." Loki nodded with a slightly flirtatious air.

"I feel flattered." He said dryly. "Next question." Tony nodded.

"Why didn't you put up more of a fight, even try to escape when we were in Stuttgart and the forest?" Loki opened his mouth with a smirk, but Tony carried on talking as he began to pace, his body needing movement as his mind raced. "I mean, I know it's part of your great 'master plan', but honestly, for how show-off-y you've been lately, your performance has been, quite frankly, shit. One would think that you _wanted_ someone to notice." Loki opened his mouth again to answer the apparent question.

"Tony." Tony waved his hand at him, still pacing, in a dismissive gesture.

"Shut up and stand there. All I need is for you to be quiet while I use my brilliant brain to figure this out and stop your overly optimistic brother from taking you back to Asgard, when you clearly don't want to go." He paused in his pacing for a moment, clearly having lost track.

"But -" Tony glared at him and Loki sighed, resigning himself to being silent. He began to pace again.

"Thank you. Now… ah, yes. Someone noticing." The inventor sighed in despair. "Honestly, this group has no one as intelligent as me in it - or even someone with brains. Why has no one noticed yet that you have a plan that involves getting captured? And if your planning on getting captured… then a rescue is coming as well." He stops suddenly, excitement written all over his face. "Oh, of course." He trailed off. Then a look that Loki could only describe as lust rose in his eyes. He groaned in pleasure. "God, I think I love the way you mind works." He licked his lips, and looked the God up and down in a clear leer. "So… twisted and complicated. And so _smart_." Loki flushed lightly. He had no idea what was going on, but something about the billionaire's tone caught his attention, and he suddenly noticed that he was rather attractive, even by Aesir standards. Tony smirked. "Say, when we fix this lot up… what do you say if we meet in a slightly different way, like… in my Tower, with a few drinks." Loki's eyebrows rose.

"I think I could bear to pop in for a while." He smirked in return. "Your third question?" Tony lifted a hand and ran it through his hair.

"This one actually has no bearing on our world issue, now." Curiosity peaked, Loki leaned forward slightly. "I was wondering if you were inclined to aid me in a little search. She is… incredibly interesting and she has a monster that is so…" He broke off with a strangled sound. He shook his head to regain his thoughts a little. "She's being held by SHIELD somewhere - on this helicarrier, I believe - and I've got a thing against torture and experiments done on people without consent -" Tony didn't miss how Loki's eyes narrowed and he flinched and was glad that he wasn't the only one that hated it. "- so you can understand that I want to find her, shelter her and her enormously beautiful monster. I also have started to a bit of a vendetta against SHIELD for doing it." He gave Loki a meaningful look. "And one Agent Phil Coulson in particular for allowing it to happen, despite the obvious hope she had that he would help her to be free." Loki smirked darkly, his monster curling behind his eyes in anticipation.

"My pleasure." He said, green eyes flashing. Tony cleared his throat against the sudden thrill of arousal that shot through his body at that look. _Damn_ his attraction to danger.

"But yes, my question is if you would be willing to also experiment a little." He frowned. "If they haven't ruined her completely. If so," His features darkened. "I'll destroy them all. Slowly, and with as much ruthlessness as I can manage." His eyes glinted. "I won't use the suit either." He muttered and Loki grinned.

"I believe we have an accord, Tony Stark. I will help you find this woman and perhaps stick around for a while. Do you know this woman's name?" Tony smiled gently, his eyes softening, to the shock of Loki, who hadn't expected him to be so… besotted with this woman.

"I do. Kagome." It was the first time he'd said her name out loud since he'd learned it and he found he enjoyed the way it curled around his tongue. "She said she doesn't have a last name - she is her own." One of Loki's eyebrows rose. Curious.

"Thank you, I will do my best to be quick." Tony nodded and then began to walk away.

"Well than, Loki, it was nice doing business with you and I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay." He reached the door, opened it, turned back, and gave a bow, prompting a laugh, before shutting it completely. He made his way to the bathroom as he planned and then made his way back to the lab he was sharing with Bruce.

Then everything was manic and chaotic and violent. It all went to hell and he loved it.

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**Awesome. Done with this chapter now. I'm sooo happy by the way, with how popular this has become in such a short time and I just want to say thanks for your support! Again, let me know what you think - loved the comments for the earlier chapter!**

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	3. The Battle?

**Hey! I figured that it was time I gave you guys another chapter, so here it is! Hope you all enjoy!**

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Chapter 3: The… Battle?

He loved the fact that he pretty much knew what Loki was planning and had even managed to add to his plans slightly. He'd never counted himself as a hero. He protected what was his, destroyed that which threatened them, and then went back to being an asshole to those he protected and loved. That was what he did. And if he killed those that threatened what was his when he could just as easily knock them out? Well, he always preferred to call himself Chaotic Neutral.

Jarvis had managed to hack all the way through the SHIELD helicarrier system and had found some interesting projects relating to the Tesseract. Then Nicky-boy came in demanding to know what was going on.

So he asked him, "What _is_ Phase Two?" Then watched as Steve - good old soldier Steve - came in with an explanation before Fury and a witty comment that actually slightly impressed him. Fury tried to keep the soldier on his side, but Steve's disappointment is a tangible thing.

Fury makes an excuse and Tony counters it - "I'm sorry, Nick, what were you lying?" - and is then himself faced with Disappointed Steve and then Angry Steve. Tony, being the witty and sharp-tongued asshole he is, makes a counter comment for every one of Steve's, until everything explodes. Literally.

Tony has never been more happy for a life-and-death situation in his life. But even then, it's not even his death. It's everyone that works on the helicarrier, everyone here works for SHIELD, so he's not particularly pleased with them, but then Dr. Banner is also on this aircraft and then Loki and possibly Kagome as well. He's not about to let this massive thing crash. So he and Steve began to fix the cursed thing. Of course, Tony should have known that Steve wouldn't have a clue what he was doing, but hey, he's focussing on saving the lives of about two hundred and fifty people or more.

"It seems to run on some kind of electricity." Was what had followed Captain America's exasperated sigh. Tony resisted the urge to laugh at him. Barely. By a hair.

"Well, you're not wrong." He offered cheerfully, but it didn't help him in his job, so he had Jarvis bring up the system. It took him twenty minutes - or thereabouts, he's not particularly sure - for him to fix the propeller and get it started again. He saved Steve from a bad guy, and then received the best news all day since the recently made alliance with Loki.

"Agent Coulson is down." And his monster almost exploded in joy with a triumphant roar. He schooled his face before he could break out into a grin, but he made a note to thank Loki profusely next time he saw him. But he made his way to the bridge after removing his suit in solemn silence. He ignored everything that was said until his name was mentioned.

"… Stark knows this." Did he? He felt his lips start to twitch into a smile and restrained himself. Again. "Called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more." _Yeah, Nick_, he thought, _we became more like, as Bruce said, a time bomb. I'd say that is more._ "See if they could work together when we _needed_ them to, to fight the battles we never could." Tony frowned deeply. Thought about the lies and secrets and wanted to snort in disbelief. "Phil Coulson died -" _Good_. "- still believing in that idea. In heroes." The satisfaction the monster had felt since learning about the agent's death vanished, and it roared in outrage again. How dare he? How _dare_ Fury say that, as if Coulson was a good man, a hero in his own right? He got up and left before he snarled in rage and got himself killed before he could do anything to help Kagome - or even find her.

He went to Loki's cell room, and spotted the bloodstain that he assumed was Coulson's. He grinned savagely at it, showing his teeth and darkness shining in his eyes. He walked up the steps, grin fading and looked down the hole that Loki had sent Thor down into.

"Was he married?" Steve. Why bother asking that? It is isn't relatable data, nor is it the key to winning this battle. He answered anyway, keeping his face away from Steve's view. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide the monster right now, still fuming over what Fury had said.

"No, there was… a cellist, I think." There was silence before Steve spoke again.

"I'm sorry, he seemed like a good man." This time, Tiny couldn't hold back a snort. A good man? He works for _SHIELD_ for goodness' sake!

"He was an idiot." _Yes_, he thought to himself, _he was an idiot for not suspecting I'd get to him sooner or later, whether it was myself, or someone I'd either paid or made an alliance with_. He and Steve continued until Steve mentioned something that got the inventors hackles up.

"He was doing his job." Tony sneered. Yeah, he was certain that the man had been 'doing his job'. And, of course, lacking something called morals and a conscience. Tony, at least, had morals, even if they were a little twisted, and a conscience, even if he sometimes chose to ignore it. He told Steve some kind of lie to make him believe that Tony actually gave a shit that Coulson was dead, and was anything but pleased. And then he walked away, but of course, Steve just couldn't let it lie.

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?" Tony span around, glaring at Steve harshly, his eyes so dark they were practically black. Steve looked shocked, but he was the good little soldier enough that he overlooked it.

"We are _not_ soldiers!" He hissed angrily. He forcibly calmed himself and focussed a little. "I'm not marching to Fury's fife." Steve nodded in approval.

"Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does." Tony felt a surprised laugh rise in his throat and pushed it down. Loki's only killed about ninety people, now, in three or four days, and he's willing to bet that Loki himself did less than a third himself, the rest were probably circumstantial and the people he'd gotten under his control. Speaking of the control, Tony did find that a bit creepy, but he knew that wasn't a natural thing for Loki. He seemed the type to manipulate people into doing things without them realising they were doing it. Steve started going on about some kind of strategic thing that Tony had absolutely no interest in, and suddenly zeroed in on the bloodstain.

"He made it personal." Ohh, he was so _clever_, Tony thought that he and Loki will get on really well in the near future. A plan within a plan within a plan. God, he loved that brain. But Tony had a plan within a plan too - and wasn't it so lucky that it coincided with Loki's?

Steve was obviously confused, but went on being stubborn and not acknowledging that Tony was smarter than him when it came to unravelling plans. Sure, Steve had had experience in actually war, but Tony had been brilliant at outsmarting people and figuring out their plans since he was fourteen, when he realised that people always wanted things from him because he was the son of a very rich man. He thought that Steve should let go of some of that ego - he was only twenty years old for goodness sake and had only had the serum - technically - for eleven months now.

"That's not the point." Oh, the ignorance of youth.

"That _is_ the point. _That's_ Loki's point." He insisted, still working on the plan in his head. "He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart." God, Tony wanted to roll his eyes so hard right now. The logic in that sentence didn't make any sense.

"… he knows he has to take us out win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be _seen_ doing it." Actually, Tony knew, Loki wanted the Avengers to win, so he's been deliberately loosing this whole time, giving hints, defying the control he's been placed under subtly. Plus, this city being where they live, it'll be great for their publicity. Also, Steve is so easy to lie to, to manipulate. "He wants an audience." The younger man nodded in understanding.

"Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart." Tony nodded.

"Yea, but that was just previews. This is… this is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva." He is if all of his plans are this easy to see through, it looks complicated, but it is so simple. He doesn't think so though, so deception is best spoken with half-truths. "He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies with his _name_ plast-" Tony stopped with sudden clarity of what Loki was going to do. "Son of a bitch." He rushed to get to his suit that he first had to fix before they went anywhere.

He worked as fast as he could and got in the suit. The rest of the team, with the exception of Bruce, or course, but he had high hopes for that man, took the quinjet to his Tower. It was infinitely slower, so he just sped ahead.

On the way, he had a thought. "Hey, Jarvis, what about that bug?"

"I'm sorry, sir. The bug was removed after Loki's final conversation with Agent Coulson, when the agent used a weapon to blast him through a wall before he died." Tony quirked his lips. Cool. "However, sir, Loki is near the helipad outside your penthouse."

"Thanks, Jarvis, keep me posted." He got closer and saw that the Tesseract had been set up in some kind off device. He also saw Selvig, set up with some kind of computer that looked forty years old.

"I have shut off the arc reactor. The device is already self-sustaining." Jarvis informed him. Well damn.

"Shut it down, Dr. Selvig." Tony called through the PA system. He watched the doctor turn around and was kind of freaked out by the bright blue eyes that made it look like he was wearing contact lenses.

"It's too late. You can't stop it." Selvig seemed like he was trying to smile in happiness. "She wants to show us something. A new universe." Tony grimaced.

"Okay." He took the initiative and tried to destroy it with a repulsor blast. It failed, of course, epically, but it was worth a try. He was blown away, but he steadied himself with little effort.

"That barrier is pure energy. It is unbreachable."

"Yeah, I got that." He turned and saw Loki, just as Jarvis said, outside his penthouse. "Plan B." If his AI had a body, he would be frowning at Tony right now.

"Sir, the Mark 7 is not ready for deployment." He sighed, annoyed at the inconvenience.

"Then skip the spinning rims, we're on the clock." He said impatiently as he lowered himself to the helipad and had Jarvis remove his suit. He and the trickster God shared a look as they matched, step for step, to walk inside.

"Do you think you can prevent the battle?" Tony felt a smile forming on his face at what Loki what chosen to open with.

"No, but maybe… I can get you to do it." Loki frowned.

"What?" Tony walked towards him slowly.

"We have a deal. I don't want you going up to Asgard to sit out a long-ass punishment, and I don't have the patience to wait that long. You don't want to go back to Asgard either, I'm willing to bet. But," He shrugged. "You said you'd help me, and then we'd all help each other." Loki scowled, eyes flashing, and suddenly Tony noticed that his eyes were blue. "Jarv, be so kind." He saw Loki's brow furrow in confusion before a solid metal ball hit him in the back of the head. The God went down like a sack of bricks. Tony felt a little bit of worry, but knew that it took much more than a steel bar to concuss a God - therefore they needed to be hit a little bit harder. The Mark 7 was deployed and wrapped safely around Tony. He grabbed the sceptre and flew out the window.

"Selvig." The doctor looked up from where he was lying on the ground, eyes back to their normal brown. Huh, Tony had forgotten that Selvig had also been in blasting range earlier and must have been knocked out. "How do I shut it off?"

"The Tesseract can't protect against itself. The sceptre is an extension. I had enough control that I installed a fail-safe without Loki knowing." Somehow Tony doubted that. "Put the tip right in the centre." Tony nodded and used the extra strength from the suit to put it into the centre. There was a whirring sound, before the pure energy barrier dissolved.

...

Well, that was anti-climactic. Tony somehow expected more. All he hoped was that whatever was on the other side of the Tesseract got the backlash of the sudden power down. The sceptre's stone itself had stopped glowing completely, but just to be safe, he resolved to destroy it later. He turned back to Selvig. "Thank you." The doctor raised his hand in a dismissive gesture. "I assume you know your way back down to the penthouse?" Selvig nodded and rested his head back down onto the concrete. Tony shrugged and flew back down to the penthouse. Loki was still out, but that didn't really matter. He got the Mark 7 suit off and went to his bar to get a drink. He felt he deserved it. He was about to walk away from bar, when he had a sudden bout of courtesy and got another glass, pouring a bit of whiskey in it. He carried both glasses to the sofa and set the whiskey in front of him on the table.

He debated for a moment picking up the God and carrying him to the sofa so he'd be more comfortable. His decision was taken from him when said God groaned and got up slowly, holding one hand to his head, hissing in remaining plain. He soon stopped though, so he supposed it was those frost giant genes that healed him quickly.

"Back, are we?" Loki's head shot up at the sound of Tony's voice, looking for the source. When he knew Loki had spotted him, Tony gave a wave with the hand holding the glass. "Want one?" He motioned to the glass on the table. Loki gave a smile.

"Well, we are at your Tower in your penthouse, so I might as well." He said referring to the conversation they had earlier. He got up and sat himself on the sofa next to Tony, taking the glass from the table and taking a sip. Tony nudged him gently.

"By the way, thank you for dealing with Coulson. It was satisfying." He said, glancing sideways at the God. Loki nodded in response.

"It was deeply enjoyable. I literally stabbed him in the back." Tony chuckled and was about to reply, when Jarvis gave a small beep.

"I'm sorry sir, but the Avengers wish to know your whereabouts and are worried that you aren't responding to your communicator." Tony's brow furrowed.

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about them." He grinned. "They still don't know that you were under the control of… whoever it was… through the Tesseract." Loki frowned at him then.

"How did you know?" The inventor snorted.

"When I asked about it, your eyes went blue for a second and then you snarled at me for daring to suggest that anything could control you." Loki grinned a little sheepishly in reply. "Go ahead Jarv, put them on." As soon as he said that, there was a babble of questions. "Whoa, guys. One at a time! I'm not able, for all of my brilliance, to hear all of you when you all speak over each other." There was a pause, and then laughter.

"Well, Stark," Came Natasha's voice. "At least we know you're not under mind control." Tony laughed.

"Yeah, there's not going to be a battle either." He said it so casually, no one seemed to realise what he'd said for a moment.

"What do you mean, Man of Iron?" Tony pushed down a grimace at the butchering of his name at the hands of Thor. Loki's quiet chuckle told him he wasn't entirely successful. He concluded that Thor must have met up with his team-mates and wondered if they were still in the quinjet.

"Loki was under mind control too. His eyes were blue whenever he was holding onto the sceptre, and when not, it was still clear that he was being guided. I went and spoke to him, asked who was controlling him, and his eyes went blue for a second before he basically exploded at me." There was silence. "What, you actually think he's capable of this much killing? Of that desire for a throne, any throne?" Loki piped up then.

"I did tell you, Thor, did I not? When we were at the Bifrost, that I never wanted the throne, only to be your equal?" There was more silence, but then Thor agreed.

"I had forgotten that, brother! It is true you said that."

Tony smiled, a twist to his mouth that no one but he and Loki could see, one that was sharp and had a satisfied edge. "Not to derail the issue, but has Banner turned up yet?"

"I'm here." Tony grinned.

"Science-bro! I knew you'd come! See, I told you you'd be suiting up with the rest of us!" Bruce chuckled. "Hey, come to the Tower. I think this conversation is best had face to face." His voice darkened. "I don't want any weapons in my penthouse, though. If Jarvis catches you, you're not getting in this room." There was another pause. Jeez, what about that sentence was difficult to comprehend?

"Why?" Clint asked. Tony smirked darkly, but affected a cheerful, if whiny voice.

"I don't want to risk my lovely new building being ruined, especially this room! Do you know how much this place cost?" There was a bit of laughter, and Tony knew that they weren't suspicious of him anymore - he was just being himself as far as they were concerned. While they waited for the rest of the team and Selvig, whenever he was going to show up, to show up, Tony and Loki shared a dark look. Honestly, normal people are _idiots_.

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**Well, that's another chapter done - and I'm still being continuously surprised at the level of support this story is getting. It's amazing! Thank you all so much!**

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	4. A Bargain Is Struck

**Hey, another chapter for you! Hope you enjoy!**

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Chapter 4: A Bargain is Struck

"You can't be serious!" Steve said, loudly protesting to the idea that Loki should stay on Earth - Midgard.

"He should be put where he belongs - Asgard. Let them deal with him." Natasha added in. Thor's face was grave. Tony had put forth a very convincing argument. In Asgard, Loki would be imprisoned for God knows how long and then watched very carefully for several centuries. There would be no excuse, not even that fact that he was being controlled by a being that is stronger than he is. On Midgard, they take into account if someone is being forced to do something and give them a lesser sentence.

Clint looked torn. "I don't know guys, maybe he could stay a little while - help the Avengers or something. Give him a bit of time to get his head on straight." Loki nodded in gratitude. Tony may have noticed it in the first place, but Clint knew what it was like. Banner nodded as well.

"I agree with Tony and Clint. Earth is fairer, it seems, when it comes to punishment. He may have killed a lot of people, but he was under the control of another - it would be like punishing Clint for something he technically didn't do." Tony grinned at his science bro. Thor nodded slowly.

"I am beginning to see that Asgard can be somewhat harsh in punishments, though perhaps not my own - I needed the push and experience." He smiled wryly. "I did start a war, after all." He paused. "Loki can stay here. I shall return to Asgard and talk to father about him serving out the sentence here, as Earth judges." He moved to the balcony and began to swing him hammer. "Fare thee well, shield brothers and sister. I shall return." And he was off.

The Avengers looked at each other for a moment. Then Tony grinned. "Hey! You could all move in! I have enough space, and then we could rename the Tower the Avenger's Tower!" Laughter was his response and he pouted. "What? Don't you want to move in?" Bruce nodded thoughtfully.

"I think it'd be nice, to have somewhere to live." Tony looked surprised for a second, and then nodded.

"You'll all be protected here. No one is getting at you." He shrugged. "You don't have to, I'm just offering. Although," His face twisted. "It'd be weird with only some of you here and not the rest. And I'm sure you all can't resist being around me, who could?" More laughter and it was agreed. The Avengers were moving in. Awesome. Tony turned to Loki. "What about you, Loki? You're welcome too." Loki inclined his head.

"I'd be most grateful, Tony." Tony nodded his head with a wide smile.

"Great! Now all of you get out." Everyone laughed and got up to sort out their belongings. Loki made to get up with a look of confusion, but was stopped with a hand on his arm. Tony wasn't looking at him, but out of his window. "Not you." He said quietly. Loki's brow furrowed.

"Why?" Tony looked at him from the corner of his eye, utterly serious.

"We've got to talk to Fury about you staying here." Loki grimaced. "My thoughts exactly." Tony took a deep breath. "Jarvis, get Director Fury on video call."

"Of course, sir." Tony got up, glass still in hand, and went to the bar. He was pouring himself another drink when Fury's unyielding expression appeared in front of him.

"What's this about, Stark?" He grumbled. "Have you captured Loki yet?" Tony smiled charmingly.

"What, no hello? Hi, how are you doing? Not dead yet?" Fury scowled, not amused.

"Somehow death keeps on missing you." Tony chuckled, his smile twisting into something darker.

"What can I say? She loves me. I get close to her, we have a little kiss, and then she bids me farewell." His eyes darkened. "We enjoy the dance." Loki's eyes narrowed. There was something he was missing, something he had a feeling he'd find out, eventually. There was a wealth of experience in those words, something haunted, and Loki was determined to find out. Fury rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Stark, very good. Have you found Loki or not?" Tony's cheerful persona was back.

"Why, of course!" He pouted playfully, lifting a hand to his chest as if he was hurt. "Your lack of faith in me is painful." Over the audio, Loki and Tony could hear the Director's teeth grinding.

"Well, where is he?" The inventor grinned.

"Here in my penthouse." He stopped smiling and donned what Pepper like to call his 'I mean business' face. "And he is not responsible for anything that has been happening. He was under the control of another being, more powerful than he is - even if he hadn't fallen through the void and been half mad by the time they'd met." He had a feeling that Fury was raising an eyebrow.

"And who is this being?" Tony inhaled and opened his mouth, ready to answer, but then realised that he had no idea. He looked to Loki.

"Who is it? You never said." Loki got up smoothly and made his way to the inventor, making sure he stopped in direct line that Fury could see.

"Thanos, a Titan that went mad some time ago. He'd left his planet and found an ally in The Other, who gave him the Chitauri." Fury frowned.

"The Other who?" Loki rolled his eyes.

"That's his name. He's a loyal servant to Thanos." Fury nodded thoughtfully before shooting a glare at Loki.

"And what do you plan to do now?" Loki smirked.

"I plan to stay here with Mr. Stark until my brother comes back from Asgard. He went to negotiate with our father about my sentencing - which, as it wasn't me doing this, should be null and void anyway." Loki's brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Though I suppose I might be banished for a while, perhaps as a mortal, as I _did_ try to destroy a planet that we were to be at war with at the time." He grinned cheekily. "So you might have to deal with me anyway, by the decree of the All-Father. Oh, and Thor also took the Tesseract with him to Asgard, where it belongs." Tony laughed as Fury scowled, irritated.

"The two of you will drive me mad. Fine. Do what you want." He narrowed his eyes. "I'll be watching you though." Tony's expression went cold.

"Yeah. I'll be watching you too, Nicky." Fury looked surprised at the cold tone and took in the inventor's expression.

"What are you looking for?" Tony smiled darkly.

"Something you had no right to have." He brightened up, grinning cheerfully. "So I'll be taking it when I find it. Bye bye, Director!" Tony looked away as Jarvis cut off the call, taking a sip of his drink.

Right, finding Kagome. He looked up, ignoring Loki's curious look. "Jarvis." The AI already knew what he wanted.

"The workshop is ready for you, sir." Tony nodded.

"Allow Loki access." There was a pause.

"Access granted to Loki, sir." Tony smiled thinly and turned to Loki.

"Good. Fancy coming down with me?" Loki nodded, eyes lighting up with curiosity. "Jarvis, have the SHIELD helicarrier files ready for when we get down there."

"Of course, sir." The two men made their way into the elevator that then took them down to the workshop. The doors opened and Tony stepped out, walking backwards into the room with a grin, arms spread wide.

"What do you think?" Loki looked at the materials and equipment strewed everywhere.

"Messy." Tony looked at Loki, crestfallen. Loki grinned. "But very interesting." The inventor perked up a bit, but still looked irritated at the first assessment.

"I'll have you know that this is organised chaos, thank you very much." He muttered playfully as he walked sulkily away. He turned around suddenly, curiosity on his face.

"Hey, are you really a God? What's your aspect?" Loki rolled his eyes, but answered.

"Mischief, Chaos and Lies." Loki's brow furrowed. "And Fire." Tony frowned.

"But aren't you a frost giant? Fire seems like a strange thing to have precedence over." The trickster God gaped.

"How did you know I was a frost giant?" Tony shrugged.

"Our Mythology says that you are. But then they also say that you're blood-brother to Odin, so it's not always right." He smiled. "But thanks for telling me that you are, anyway." At Loki's dumbfounded expression, he winked.

Loki shook his head and laughed for a moment before sobering slightly. "So, the files?" Tony's face looked like it was carved in stone.

"Yeah." He said quietly, turning away. "The files."

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**Sorry this one is so short, but the plot needed to advance! The next one is bigger I promise!... I think... Reviews are appriciated!**

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	5. A Discovery

**Hello! This one is much longer than the last one - promise! This is one of my favourites, so please enjoy!**

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Chapter 5: A Discovery

They overlooked the obvious files with information that wasn't related, like the recent assassination of a prominent Korean minister that was trying to get support for starting a war with America. No, they dug much deeper than that - deeper than the Phase Two weapons Fury was planning for with the Tesseract. Tony dug past all of that with a single-minded focus that Loki was amazed at. He watched as Tony began to watch all the videos SHIELD had on that helicarrier, including the interrogations using less than moral means. Tony never flinched, just watched carefully with hardened eyes.

Loki found himself more interested, for the moment, in seeing how Tony reacted - or didn't react - to the material and experiments he was seeing. Eventually they came across Steve Rodgers - in the file named Subject 296 - in the early days of his awakening, as scientists crowded around him and took samples of everything they could and tested his endurance and abilities to the limit. Still no reaction from the inventor, which shocked Loki somewhat - wasn't the man a team-mate?

Tony shrugged when Loki asked, eyes dark. "He knew what he was getting into - he has enough strength and endurance to be able to stop it if he wanted to. Though," He sneered. "I bet Captain America is too moral to actually be able to injure another human being from America - even if it meant being set free from something he didn't want done." Biting vitriol was clear from his tone. At his shocked look, the inventor had looked at him from the corner of his eyes and rose an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Loki shook his head. "Nothing, just surprised at the amount of…" Loki couldn't think of the word quickly enough, but Tony seemed to understand.

"I'm not a good man, Loki. I'm hailed as a hero, but I haven't really got the moral code for one." He turned to face Loki fully, his lips in a tense, straight line. "I protect what I consider mine, that is all - the media and public have just decided that I'm a hero. I do whatever it takes," His lips curled up in a mockery of a smile. "And if a few people die when I could just as easily - if not have an easier time of it - knock people out and hand them over to custody, well the media ignores that." He barked out a bitter laugh and turned back to his screens, shifting and moving files before opening them up to do a quick skim read. "So do the people I protect."

Loki had learned enough about the strange technology for him to know exactly what to do to minimise the whole lot. So he did, stepping in Tony's line of vision. Annoyed, Tony looked up, mouth open to ask what he was doing, but saw the trickster God's expression and his mouth shut slowly.

"Do you realise," Loki started, slowly, carefully, like liquid heat. "How so very… _alluring_ you are when you say things like that, looking like that?" His eyes smouldered like burning embers and Tony suddenly found that he didn't want to look away, even as he knew that the darkness he usually hid away was prowling around the surface, most likely visible for Loki to observe.

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but found his voice stolen from him. He settled for a strangled hum that vaguely sounded like an agreement. Loki narrowed his eyes and a dangerous smirk formed on his lips. He leaned forward.

"I don't think you do." He almost sing-songed, his voice a low purr. Tony had just enough time to widen his eyes before he was rendered speechless in another way, the God's lips covering his own in a heated kiss, one of said God's hands finding their way into Tony's hair and tugging sharply. Tony gasped, his momentary distraction enough for Loki to dominate the kiss, licking his way into the inventors mouth like a pro. _Which_, Tony reasoned dazedly, _he mostly likely is_. Then he lost the ability to think in coherent sentences, his focus now on reciprocating as best he could with his brain steadily turning to mush under Loki's expert attentions.

"Sir." Tony ignored the voice, continuing instead to explore the inside of Loki's mouth. "Sir, I must insist. It seems Agent Coulson is on the line." Tony froze. Loki pulled away, looking confused as he took in what the AI was saying. Tony, however, was infuriated as he let out a very convincing snarl.

"Just when I thought I'd finished with him." He muttered. Loki swallowed harshly when Tony let go of his hair with a look of sadistic relish. "I guess it's my turn to kill him." Loki couldn't resist and kissed him again, hard and quick. Tony kissed back before pulling away. Tony breathed out and, just like that, had on a perfect mask of restrained fury and relief. "Put him on, Jarvis."

Oddly enough, Fury was the one who appeared in the screen. Tony frowned, the relief fading from his face. "Stark."

"What the hell, Fury?" The Director ignored his tone and the question he asked.

"Thor just touched down in New Mexico. He says that the All-Father agreed that Loki would carry out his sentence on earth, with the order that he was to spend one mortal lifetime down here." Tony's eyebrows rose, as did Loki's.

"That's it?" Thor appeared on the screen next to Fury.

"I convinced my father that if he were to give a heavier sentence than that, he should also give me one as well - I very nearly started a war with Jotenheimr, and was only banished for it for two and a half days." Tony nodded thoughtfully.

"Awesome. Thanks, Goldilocks." He saw Thor's brow furrow in confusion and the outraged look on Fury's face before he ended the call. There was silence for a moment before they both burst into relieved laughter.

"Thank God he's not alive again." Tony gasped. Loki smiled innocently.

"You can thank me if you like." Tony was confused for a moment before he chuckled.

"Thank you, he's not alive again." Loki beamed. Tony couldn't resist and leaned up to give the God a chaste kiss before turning away. "C'mon. We've got to find her." He murmured, determination filling his eyes. "She's got to be around here somewhere."

They spent the next few hours searching through every file they could. "Sir, I have discovered a ghost drive in the system, would you like me to pull it up?" Tony sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, Jarv. Go ahead." A list of documents and videos lined up in front of him. He had a sudden inspiration. "Hey, Jarvis, go down to the files beginning with K." Loki turned, curious as to what he was doing. The first file beginning with K was a document, dated to have been created at about seventy years ago.

_The subject was found on the 12th April, 1942. It seemed to be asleep. Several agents went to move the subject, but were pushed back by a pink light. The subject slept on. The agents waited until it awoke and then questioned it on it's name. They were told that name was Kagome. When it noticed the guns, it refused to say anything more about itself. The agents tranquilised the creature and transported it to SHIELD headquarters, where investigations were undergone by Mr. Howard Stark._

Tony stopped reading then and shut his eyes, breathing deeply and trying to restrain the fury. Once he'd got it sufficiently under control, he looked at Loki with a humourless smile. "Well, at least we know she's at SHIELD." He chuckled darkly. "Just one more thing to hate my father for." He looked at his father's name again and closed his eyes with a scowl. "Jarvis. Give me a summary of the next few documents about Kagome. I'll watch the videos later." Jarvis paused for a moment.

"Sir, are you sure?" The AI asked hesitantly. Tony opened his eyes again and glared at the screen.

"Jarvis." He said warningly. Jarvis paused again before speaking.

"Kagome had regular experiments conducted upon her, including electrocution, having her skin cut open and blood drained, to name a few. The scientists discovered that she could heal herself extremely quickly - faster than Steve Rodgers and Thor - and when she was conscious enough, produce a kind of barrier that forced people to keep their distance. There was no clear sign of how she managed to do this, and no one bothered to ask her about it. After a while, Kagome was subject to what many would call torture, with organs being removed, skin removed, and drowned repeatedly. She always recovered within four hours and never died. The scientists soon noticed that she didn't age, but when asked, Kagome didn't give them any information. According to the files, the experiments still continue." Tony gritted his teeth.

"I need a drink." Loki, silent until now, appeared next to him.

"Me too." Loki looked at the inventor, his hard eyes, the monster shifted restlessly underneath the façade of relative calm, and tense shoulders. They made their way upstairs to the bar, where Tony poured them both a scotch. He took a sip and then looked at the bottle and sighed, frustrated.

"Come on. I'll take this down with me - no doubt we'll need it." He added darkly. "We have some videos to watch." Loki had no doubt that, yes, they would be needing more scotch, and also that these videos will just serve to enrage the inventor more. He frowned, took a sip, and followed Tony to the elevator.

Once down in the lab again, Tony sat down in front of his screens with a sigh, noticing the God sitting down next to him. "Okay, Jarvis, play the first one."

_The fist thing that came on the screen, blurry as it was, was a table, held at a sixty-four degree angle. Tied onto it was a woman with long black hair. She had no clothes on and she was obviously drugged, with her dazed eyes and slow blinks. She also has a series of wires attached to her at certain points. There are three people, two men and one woman, with lab coats on, looking at her with indifference._

_"Who are you?" The woman asked coldly. The woman grimaced._

_"I told you." She slurred. "My name is Kagome." At her answer, an electric shock contorted her body and she let out a shocked yelp. _

_"Who do you work for?" Was asked and Kagome furrowed her brow in confusion, her head lolling to one side._

_"No one. I was just wondering around." She smiled hollowly. "Wanted to see the sights." Another shock rewarded her._

_"What are you?" The shocks were obviously making Kagome delirious as she laughed bitterly. _

_"Hell if I know, anymore." She looked at their indifferent faces with understanding and anger. "You're better off asking whatever Gods you worship." She frowned. "Though I forget. Do you people still worship Gods?" The scientists frowned._

_"How old are you?" Kagome shrugged as best she could, being tied down. _

_"I don't have a clue." She smirked darkly. "Much older than all three of you put together, that's for sure. That's what?" She thought for a minute. "Wait, what year is it?" The scientists exchanged glances for a moment before on of the males answered._

_"1942." Kagome's eyes widened and she whistled._

_"Wow. Really?" She shook her head. "I've obviously not been paying very close attention to the times. I'm probably about four hundred and sixty-eight?" Her voice lilted into a question at the end._

Tony and Loki gaped. If that was in 1942, then she'd be about five hundred and thirty now, surely. Jesus. The video continued on with the questioning, the shocks getting longer and higher in voltage the longer the video continued on. Suddenly it was less about finding information and more about seeing how much she could take.

The three so-called scientists took no notice of her screams and discussed among themselves how much to increase the voltage while Kagome recovered. Disgusted, Tony turned it off. He paused for a moment.

"Jarvis, put the others up in separate screens so we can see them all." Jarvis did as asked, and the inventor and God were left horrified with what had been done to Kagome over the past seventy years, as the cameras obviously became clearer the more hi-tech they were. They watched in horrified and increasingly angry silence until Tony shattered it with a glass thrown at a wall. Loki started - he hadn't even heard the inventor move.

He hesitated, watching the inventors tense back heave as he tried to control his anger, and therefore his breathing, carefully. "Tony?"

"Jarvis, shut it off." Tony snapped harshly. The AI did so immediately. Loki came closer, arm outstretched, not sure whether touching the inventor would be a good idea.

"Tony?" He called again and carefully touched Tony's back. He tensed up further at the touch, restrained violence tingling under the skin, but he didn't otherwise say anything against the touch. Loki put his other hand on Tony's back, moving his hands in soothing circles while he waited for the inventor to respond.

"I'm going to kill them all." Tony growled lowly as he turned slowly, Loki stepping back so he could see his expression. His face was hard, stress and anger in the edges and his eyes were so dark they were almost black. There was a darkness to his features that wasn't there before, and Loki knew that he could see it only because Tony let him - this full force of the rage he usually kept so carefully hidden away. "Fury better not know anything about this. If he does and he's actually encouraged it…" Tony cut himself off with a snarl that refused to be held back.

Loki waited. "Tony?" Tony looked up at him, utterly serious.

"Nothing will stop me from destroying SHIELD in it's entirety."

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**Thank you all for your amazing support, it's been great to know you all like my story. I still don't know how long it's going to be, so I can't tell you how long we're all going to have to wait to see the end - even I don't know! Haha! Anyway, review if you want to, and I'll enjoy reading them. Toodaloo!**

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	6. The Eye Of The Strom

**Hey, everyone! Another one for you! Enjoy!**

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Chapter 6: The Eye of the Storm

Loki cracked a smile, half pleased and half trying to calm the inventor down. It wouldn't do to just run in there, all guns a-blazing. They needed a plan, something that would get them what they want without it ending in an all-out war.

"That's all well and good, Tony, but perhaps it's best to think things through a bit before you go storming in there and raising hell?" There was both humour and seriousness in his tone, and Tony looked at him carefully before nodding.

"True." He made his way back to the bench and sat down, looking at the blank screens. "Fine. I'll wait." A glimmer of the patience of a predator made itself know in Tony's eyes. "Jarvis."

"Sir?" Tony smirked.

"I want you in SHIELD. I want you in the bridge of that dammed helicarrier and I want you to wait for me to get there."

"Of course, sir." Tony turned to Loki, smirk still present on his face.

"Hungry? I am. What do you feel like having?" The monster was still shifting under Tony's skin, Loki could see it, and he wondered what it bring about, when unleashed from that careful control. He shrugged.

"I don't really need any food for the moment." Tony eyed him for a moment before shrugging.

"Fair enough. Well, I'm not going over there until tomorrow, so we have time to do…" Tony frowned when nothing came to mind. "Whatever, really." He walked to his elevator, leaving the shattered glass and the bottle of scotch in the lab - he'd deal with it later. Loki followed him. While in the elevator, Tony had a thought. "Where do you want to sleep? I have plenty of floors - some of which have more than on bedroom." Loki looked the billionaire over, leaving heat trails in his wake and suddenly Tony felt that food wasn't so important.

"I think I'll just commandeer you bedroom, if it's not too much trouble." Tony smiled crookedly.

"I don't think it'll be much of a problem at all." He glanced toward the camera. "Jarvis, the penthouse."

"Of course, sir." Instructions given, the inventor pulled Loki closer by the collar of his armour. Loki smirked.

"I thought you were hungry, Stark?" Tony gave a low growl.

"Tony. And I am - just not for food." Loki laughed and then licked his way into Tony's mouth, still smirking in amusement.

"Good. To bed then?" Tony rolled his eyes with a small grin.

"Where do you think we were going?"

Tony chuckled wryly from his place next to Loki, still panting in the aftermath of orgasm. "You," He started, amusement saturating his tone, "Are too distracting." Loki sighed.

"I try my best." He stretched languidly, feeling the delicious pull of muscles recently used. He smiled suggestively, waggling his eyebrows in a playful manner. "Fancy another round?" Tony looked interested, his eyes darkening. He reached for the God, but his eyes suddenly widened and he sat up quickly, reaching for the tablet that was on his bedside, all traces of arousal gone in place of fierce concentration. Loki sighed again, put off. "Not distracting enough, apparently." He muttered to himself. Tony sent him a sideways glance.

"Oh," He purred. "I'll get to you later." He refocused his attention on the tablet, opening up documents and schematics, obviously trying to find something in particular. He gave a triumphant sound when he found it, pulling it up and showing Loki. The trickster God frowned.

"Your consultation contract?" The grin on Tony's face said it all. "What's that got to do with anything?" The grin turned smug.

"My contract with SHIELD is based upon the fact that they don't hide anything to do with my father or those that I know or have met in the past." At Loki's look, he shrugged. "We spent a long time negotiating this and they know I'll just hack their systems anyway if I feel that I'm being left in the dark." His grin came back with an excited energy that Loki was starting feel himself. "The point is, they have hidden something from me that is about my father - as much as I hate the guy - and also, coincidently, someone I have met in the past." Loki nodded.

"They have violated the contract?" Tony nodded.

"Now I can get Kagome back while tearing them apart - if they know what has been done and try to resist, then I can just say that they've violated the contract and that I demand compensation - maybe in the form of giving to me Kagome!" Loki grinned.

"You have the easier method, one that requires less force, but you are preferring to use the one that means that you put more effort into?" Tony nodded, something more vicious in his smile now. Loki groaned. "I love the way your mind works." The inventor rose an eyebrow, smirk firmly in place.

"That goes both ways, if you recall." He said lowly, and then put the tablet back down on the bedside table. His eyes were burning when he looked back at Loki, and he reached for him, pulling him so he was on top. "Well then," He murmured, his lips gently brushing Loki's. "What shall we do now?" Loki grinned and leaned down the rest of the way to kiss the inventor chastely.

"I can think of a few things." Tony laughed dirtily before it broke off in a gasp as one of Loki's hands wondered lower and took him in a firm grasp, his thumb gently brushing against the head.

"Such a distraction." Loki laughed delightedly and set out to make sure the billionaire couldn't remember his own name.

"Good morning. The time is seven o'clock on Thursday the twenty-fourth of April. The temperature is forty-two degrees Celsius with highs of sixty-four." Tony groaned and sat up, running a hand through his hair and yawning.

"Thanks, Jarvis." He got out of bed and stretched, unashamed that he was naked and that there were a pair of bright green eyes watching him hungrily, looking over the marks that had been made the night before. A series of bite marks ran over the inventors left collarbone and scratches made red lines down Tony's back and inner thighs.

Tony stopped stretching and looked over at Loki, smirking at the God's own marks that he could see, with the bed sheet only appearing around Loki's hips. His legs were free as well, the pale skin matching nicely on his white sheets. He heard Loki laugh and sighed, looking down at his overactive body part. He grinned back at Loki.

"This is your fault you know." Loki rose an eyebrow questioningly, amusement glittering in his eyes and making his lips twitch.

"How so?" He made matters worse by stretching, allowing a small groan of pleasure to escape him as he felt all his muscles tense and then relax. Tony swallowed, giving Loki a half-hearted scowl.

"You are such a dick." Loki gave a pointed look at the inventors own anatomy with raised eyebrows. Tony rolled his eyes. "And apparently immature." As Loki stood, he looked longingly at the God, but decided against initiating another round. "Come on, we have to get ready. We have a big day ahead of us!" He called out cheerfully as he made is way into the shower.

Loki, who was just about to join the inventor in 'getting ready', smirked darkly and just summoned his clothing. He hummed in consideration, looking thoughtfully at the door to the bathroom. He grinned playfully and made a simple gesture with his hand.

"Ahh! Cold!" Loki sniggered as Tony cried out, incensed, "Loki!"

"Yes, dear?" There were some curses as the water turned even colder before heating up again.

"I hate you." Loki laughed loudly.

"No, you don't." There was a pause and then a begrudging murmur of agreement.

Tony, as Loki found out, cleaned up extremely well. Yesterday, the inventor was wearing black trousers and a short sleeved black top - Loki supposed it was for comfort in the suit. But now, Tony looked every inch the commanding businessman he was. Sharply cut suit, artfully ruffled hair and a pair of glasses with red lenses that somehow managed to match what he was wearing. The shirt was a deep burgundy with the top two buttons undone, no tie, black trousers and black shoes. Loki felt the inside of his mouth go dry.

Tony winked, sharp smile in place. "What do you think?" Loki licked his lips.

"I think that we should get going before we don't go at all." Tony laughed, but Loki felt him withdrawing, felt him get in that business mode. His eyes were stormy and sparked with intelligence, and a charming smile was on his lips. The most interesting thing was his posture. Usually quite relaxed and confident, Tony now held himself with confidence that seemed to just toe the line with arrogance and his shoulders and spine were straight. The air about seemed to radiate confidence and challenged anyone who tried to bring him down.

"Right." Tony sighed, closing his eyes briefly, flinching ever so slightly as the videos of Kagome from yesterday played before his eyelids. His eyes opened, and the monster within them was visible for a moment before it was ruthlessly locked away. Loki's own monster was just about hidden - not pushed down so far as to be hidden from view if one truly looked. "Jarvis, get Fury on the line." There was a pause of mere moments.

"What do you want, Stark?" Tony smiled disarmingly at Fury's annoyed greeting.

"Merely to say that I'll be popping in soon - care to give me your co-ordinates?" Fury rolled his eyes.

"I know you don't need them Stark - I'm sure you can have your AI find us. No doubt you have a tracker somewhere on here." Tony lifted a hand to his chest in mock hurt.

"I was merely trying to be polite." Just for a moment, Tony's smile cracked and revealed something sharper and more dangerous. Fury's eyes narrowed.

"What are you planning?" Tony grinned insincerely.

"See you soon, Nick." Whatever Fury was going to reply with was cut off, the projection vanishing. Tony didn't move though, his dark eyes staring off elsewhere, some place far away. Loki frowned as Tony still hadn't moved after a few minutes.

"Tony?" Tony seemed to come back to himself with a gasp.

"What?" He didn't seem to know where he was for a moment, leaving Loki curious as to what was going on. He looked around, spotted Loki and his eyebrows rose. "Oh. Oh yes." He began to walk away, but stopped. He turned back to Loki slowly. "I didn't do anything, did I?" Loki frowned in confusion, but shook his head.

"No." He paused. "Were you supposed to?" Tony nodded distantly, but seemed to come back to himself again with the question. He smiled faintly.

"Of course not." He eyed the God thoughtfully. "Say, you could teleport us there, couldn't you?" Loki dismissed the strange occurrence for later perusal. He smirked, amused.

"I _could_, yes." Tony obviously caught on, because he gave a small smirk in return. He came closer, a small sway in his hips that drew Loki's eye.

"Will you teleport us to the helicarrier, please? Just inside the bridge I you can, if not, then wherever you can." Loki nodded. "Jarvis? Wherever we appear, set the camera footage in loop unless it's on the bridge. I don't want Fury knowing I'm there yet."

"Of course, sir." Tony looked back at Loki, a smirk on his lips and fire in his eyes.

"If you please, Loki." Loki smirked in return and teleported them both to the helicarrier.

* * *

**And this is the beginning of the end... No, I'm kidding - I have no idea when the ned will be, still. Anyway, this one was fun to write, so I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have... **

**BP**


	7. To Rain Fire

**And here it is... the ultimate confrontation! Enjoy, everyone!**

**BP**

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Chapter 7: To Rain Fire

Fury knew one thing about Tony Stark. When _he_ calls _you_, wearing a suit that isn't loaded with ammunition, and _tells_ you he's coming for a visit, it's never good news he's bringing, nor is it a sign that the inventor himself is in a good mood. In fact, the more he smiles, the worse it is.

Tony Stark had smiled a lot during that video call.

However, after being told that he'd see the Director soon, Fury did not expect that Tony had meant _soon_ soon. He'd thought maybe an hour. In no way, shape or form, did he expect the inventor to appear with Loki on the bridge in a matter of fifteen minutes from the ending of that call. He turned to face the two men, but focused on Tony.

"Mr. Stark. What a surprise." Tony grinned and shrugged.

"Well, I did tell you I'd see you soon." He said casually. Fury didn't lower his guard, his eye narrowed and walked forward to rest his hands on the massive table in the middle of the bridge.

"What do you want, Stark?" He said directly, bored already with the game. Tony grinned like a shark, showing all of his teeth. Fury tensed. He didn't know how, but he knew immediately that SHIELD had either pissed the inventor off or offended him or even a mixture of both. He sighed inwardly. Great.

Because as much as SHIELD was powerful, Stark was just as powerful in his own right. He had the resources, determination and the adoration of the media. He made his own rules and he expected people to like him for it - and they did (barring the incident with Mr. Stane). Making an enemy of Tony Stark was not something anyone wanted to do. Iron Man is the public hero, the one who will help people in an obvious way. But Iron Man is merely a creation of Tony Stark, and Tony Stark would do many great and terribly things for those he protected. Fury knew that, though he doubted the World Security Council did. They thought that all problems could be solved in an inconspicuous way, even those of public figures. Well, Obadiah Stane had thought the same and look at what happened to him.

"I found what I'm looking for." Tony stopped smiling, was completely serious, and had a cold look in his eye that told of ruthlessness. Fury swallowed nervously, though he'd never admit it.

"And what is that?" He asked boredly, hiding his concern. Tony met his eye.

"Something that you had no right to hold." He smiled sardonically. "Jarvis. You know what to do." Fury's eye widened as the AI responded.

"Of course, sir. Shall I begin searching?" Tony shrugged, unaffected as the whole helicarrier rumbled and began to tilt slightly.

"Sure, why not?" Fury scowled.

"What the hell are you playing at?" He shouted. Tony smiled unkindly. Loki just looked on as Tony easily took control and smiled a threat.

"Tell me, are you hiding something from me? Something to do with my father, perhaps?" His tone was idle, though his expression was anything but, and Fury had enough sense not to be fooled by it. "I'd think quickly I if were you - there's over two hundred people on this ship and you've only got one engine." He stopped smiling, an almost-frown on his lips. There was no hint of any remorse or hesitation in him. Fury frowned harder, disconcerted by the transition from the man who was willing to sacrifice himself to save a city to someone who would willingly kill over two hundred people simply because he was angry, offended and someone had taken what he considered to be his.

"Not as far as I know." He said slowly, carefully. Tony looked at him shrewdly, studying his expression for any hint of falsehood. All he found was confusion and hesitation. He nodded sharply, now even more angry.

"Well, then." He said, eyes narrowed. "I think it's time I had a little talk with the WSC, then." He sneered. There's nothing he hated more than talking to a group of five or six people that thought they knew what was best and didn't care about collateral damage so long as they achieved what they wanted to achieve. Fury rose an eyebrow, reluctantly impressed at how calm Tony was staying - a rare and dangerous thing.

"Stark, what is it that you want?" Tony's attention refocused on him, but he didn't speak for a long moment.

"Jarvis, restart the engine." He murmured and the helicarrier stopped listing to the side and hovered properly in the air. "And if you would be so kind as to show the dear Director the most recent footage." Immediately one of the screens in the control centre of the bridge went blank, before a high-definition video appeared.

Fury watched the video with increasing anger and horror. No wonder Stark wasn't best pleased. Then he frowned as the video ended. "How do you know her?" Tony straightened.

"I met her at the fire fighters benefit under a year and a half ago." He levelled Fury with a dark, though strangely unreadable, look. "Agent Coulson was with her." His lips quirked into a humourless smile. "She wasn't too ecstatic to be in his presence, lets say." Fury narrowed his eyes. And here he'd thought that Tony didn't like Coulson simply because he worked for SHIELD.

"I recognise that room." But Tony shook his head.

"That's of no use to me - they probably keep her elsewhere when they're not doing," He gestured vaguely at the screen the video had played on. "That." He took out his phone gesturing for Loki to sit down, and then sat down for himself at the glass table. "Jarvis is doing a sweep of the helicarrier to see if she's here. In the meantime," His eyes seemed to turn a darker shade as something that Fury found himself impressed yet concerned by crossed his face. "I think a little chat is due, don't you?" He directed the question at no one in particular and fiddled with his phone, tapping things on the holographic screen. Loki leaned closer.

"What are you doing?" Tony sent a small smile at Loki, though he never turned away from the screen.

"Hacking the World Security Council. I'm going to leave a little message in plain view, and then they are going to call me." Loki frowned, while Fury watched in surprise as Tony seemed to soften towards the trickster God.

"How can you be so sure?" Tony laughed a little.

"Any organisation that doesn't reveal everything or anything to the public hates being hacked - there's nothing worse. And seeing as I'm going to let them know who's hacked them and leave a message, they're going to want to know exactly what the hell I'm doing." He grinned at Loki conspiratorially, a grin that was returned with equal delight. Fury spoke up.

"Are you sure, Stark?" The derisive look Tony sent Fury was probably the only thing the inventor need to do or say, but he replied anyway.

"When do I _ever_ do things I'm not sure of?" Fury nodded his head in reluctant agreement.

Tony kept on tapping on his phone for a little while, before he leaned back with a satisfied sigh. No one spoke, and all they heard were the tapping from the keyboards around them as every one worked. It didn't take long, only twenty minutes before Tony's phone rang.

He grinned predatorily. "Hello." He purred. He waited for a moment. "This is indeed Tony Stark." He looked contemplatively at the screens behind the still standing Director. "Just a moment." He stood as he spoke and walked past Fury. "I just need to commandeer one of your screens, if you don't mind." Fury would have protested, except that Tony Stark didn't ask permission - he was merely telling you what he was going to do. He minimised the information currently on the screen. "Jarvis. Video call with my charming callers please." Immediately five windows popped up.

"What was the meaning of that, Mr. Stark?" One of them said. Tony smiled, looking down at the screen with cold eyes.

"Just a little fun, really." The smile vanished. "You have done something - taken something that didn't belong to you and damaged it, perhaps irreparably." He put his hands in his pockets, his body language tense and ready to pounce. "I claimed it as mine and I'm going to take it back." He wasn't even warning them, merely stating a fact. He could almost hear several of the members raise their eyebrows.

"And what have we got, Mr. Stark, that belongs to you?" Tony smiled coldly.

"Kagome." The board members froze.

"No one is meant to know she exists. How did you find out?" Tony shrugged casually.

"I met her over a year ago, via Agent Phil Coulson." One of them hissed in annoyance. Tony rose an eyebrow. So Coulson hadn't been allowed, technically, to take her out? That would explain the hope and understanding in her eyes - but the fear was still there and he hadn't quite heard the answer for that, but perhaps he'd ask Kagome when they found her.

"However and whenever you may have met, you cannot have her. She could be a danger to earth as we know it and -" Tony snapped.

"Bull_shit_. I'm not believing a single thing that's coming from your mouth. Have you even asked her? Bothered to believe her when she answered any of your questions, when you stopped drugging her enough to kill any human? Not to mention your tactics which have escalated beyond anything that you could possibly make up an excuse for - it's torture, pure and simple and most of it would have driven a human insane. I hate people like you. Close minded, think you know what is best for the earth and think you can get away with using whatever method of your so-called 'protection' you like." Tony said quietly, never raising his voice, but the whole bridge had come to a standstill, no one daring to make a sound and all wanted to hear what Tony Stark had to say to the WSC. Fury's eye was as wide as it had ever been, and Loki was staring at the inventor heatedly. There was a pause, before a member spoke up.

"Mr. Stark," She said in a conciliatory tone. "You may not approve of our methods, but she is an unknown here, and we have to know her before we can release her to -"

"Did you do that with Thor? I don't recall you doing so - there's no record of any kind of research instigated with Thor." His eyes were narrowed, practically bleeding hate and disdain. "No, it's because you found her and no one else knew - so you could do what you like - there was no one to see. So you thought you could get away with it." He grinned viciously. "I'll be taking her back, thank you. And if any of you attempt to capture her again, you'll find that I am not someone you want to make an enemy of. I will destroy your petty council and kill anyone who stands in my way." He held up his hands. "All you have to do is sit back and let me take her. I'll take her whether you like it or not, but it'll be easier of you agree." He sighed, like it was actually paining him to be making the threats, though all could hear the pleasure and satisfaction in his voice and see it on his face. "I do so hate having to go though hours of paperwork." The WSC was silent for a while, and the entire bridge held their breath.

Finally, one of them sighed. "Fine," He said. "We will let you take her, on the condition that she doesn't cause destruction." Tony rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. Pleasure doing business with you." Then he hung up on them. He turned around, his eyebrows raising in surprise when he took in the surprised and slightly awed faces of everyone on the bridge. "What?" Loki suddenly appeared next to him and captured his lips in a fierce kiss, hungry and consuming.

"You were amazing." The God breathed when he pulled away, and Tony gave him a cocky smirk.

"Damn right I was." He announced. "I'm Tony fucking Stark." Loki laughed quietly. Fury sighed. He wasn't really surprised by the turn Loki and Tony's relationship had taken. It was Tony Stark they were talking about after all.

"Do you need anything else, Stark, or will you get off my helicarrier?" Tony laughed, somehow looking brighter than he ever had before.

"In a few minutes. Jarvis, have you found Kagome yet?"

Promptly, the AI answered, "Yes, sir. The location and map have been sent to your phone." Tony nodded.

"Thanks, J."

"You're very welcome, sir." He replied dryly, obviously sensing the good mood his creator was in.

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**And yes, that is actually the end of this chapter - no more is meant to be added. Also, I have a surprise for you!... In the next chapter. Review if you want, yadda yadda, you know the drill. See you soon!**

**BP**


	8. You're Interesting

**Here, have another chapter! You lucky people you - two in one day! By the way, the surprise I mentioned in the last chapter? It's that this chapter is the first chapter, but from Kagome's point of view! Surprise and enjoy!**

**BP**

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Chapter 8: You're Interesting

Kagome sighed inwardly as Phil Coulson lead her towards the bar. She hated being even near the man, but then… he did bring her with him without the go-ahead from his superiors - the World Security Council, she believed it was called. She looked around at all of the people that chattered meaninglessly about things that weren't important, like who was going out with who and who's dress looked the best. Someone laughed to loudly near her and she felt herself flinch at the piercing noise.

Phil stopped near the bar, so she looked at who he'd said they - or rather, he would be speaking with, whose name was Tony Stark. He'd also informed her of the businessman's personal assistant, who went by the name of Pepper Potts and had long ginger-red hair. Tony Stark himself was a rather handsome man with brown hair that looked ruffled, and yet neat, intelligent brown eyes and a sharp goatee. He, like some other men, was wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a bow tie - an assemble that looked very fetching on him. She also sensed a different kind of energy, originating from his chest and she wondered what it was, but resigned herself to never finding out.

She watched him study her, ignoring the agent next to her who was trying to get his attention, and made sure she looked at bored as possible. His eyes flashed with something that she vaguely recognised before darkening in a show of recognition. His whole countenance darkened and a rage - a terrible, cornered-animal vicious rage - passed and lingered in his eyes. She smirked. So he had a monster too. Interesting.

Seeing as he'd been so kind as to let her see his, she let her smirk darken and a little of her own rage roam free inside her eyes. Tony Stark hid his away as quickly as it had come, and she had almost finished pushing hers back down to where it couldn't be seen, when she caught Phil looking at her from the corner of her eye. His eyes narrowed and she felt his right hand curl around her left wrist gently.

_Be careful. You know that if you slip up tonight, I'll have to tell them._ He'd said before they left. _The pain will only increase in that case._

And she felt the blood drain from her face at the reminder, which somehow helped her to bury her monster again. She looked at Tony, just in time to see his monster come back almost full force, prowling there in renewed rage. Kagome felt hope rising in her and could tell that his monster had, it seemed, claimed her as his. She had to look away in practised boredom before she let her hopes get any higher.

Just then, she saw Miss Potts in a low-backed blue satin dress. Hmm… it _has_ been a while since she'd been able to put on the charm. _Well over seventy-four years._ She thought to herself bitterly. She smiled as silkily as she could as she turned back to the two men, noticing Tony's surprise at how she'd donned her mask. She made no indication that she actually had noticed, however.

"If you will excuse me, gentlemen," She purred lowly, letting her eyelids lower half-way. Phil looked at her questioningly, but she just smiled, relishing in the momentary power she had in those kind of people knowing exactly what she was going to do, but Phil was more lenient with her and she knew it. He nodded in acceptance, so she turned to Tony Stark. He smiled at her gently, yet her instincts tingled lightly at the predatory edge he'd somehow put in there. He reached for her hand and she gave it to him, not reacting to the gentle, feather-light kiss he placed upon the back of it.

"Leaving so soon, darling?" He asked with a teasing smile. "I don't believe I know your name." She rose one eyebrow. She felt somehow disappointed with the amount of effort put in on that, but to her surprise, he did amend himself with, "Might I have the pleasure of hearing it, so I may know what I may call you in my dreams?" She smiled a bit more genuinely than before, though she was surprised - would she ever cease to be surprised around this man? - at the hint of truth in the charming remark and nodded her head graciously, still doing the best she could to be as charming as possible.

"You may." Kagome let her eyes glisten with light, and she ensured to keep herself turned away from where she knew Phil would be able to see. "My name is Kagome." His eyebrows rose in what seemed to be both surprise and disappointment.

"No last name?" He asked, cementing the feeling she got from him that he was disappointed. She grinned secretively and delighted in the power she felt she had.

"I have no last name." She said, and let some of her reiki shine purple in her eyes for a mere moment. His brow furrowed in confusion, so she winked and watched as the confusion cleared to be replaced with fascination. "I am my own." The words she said had a strange authority and power and Tony's eyes widened wondrously. She could see that she had accidentally started a mild infatuation for her, and softened. She didn't look at Phil, whose gaze bored into her back as she leaned forward, closer to the man whom she found herself equally intrigued by. Even her monster approved of him, and she let it show. "We will meet again, worry not, Tony Stark." Or at least, she hoped so. Then she winked and pulled her hand back, bowing slightly to both men before walking gracefully away. She had a woman to charm.

She walked up to Pepper and tapped her on the shoulder, interrupting the conversation she was having with three boring people.

"Miss Potts, may I please have this dance?" She murmured quietly to the woman. She found herself amused when the woman began to say no, but immediately changed it to a yes with a double take. Kagome led her away from the snobbish people, all three of which looked at her in a mixture of lust and annoyance. A smirk curled her lips as she encouraged Pepper to put her hand on her shoulder while Kagome managed to situate her arm around Pepper's waist using a gentle-firm grip.

As they swayed to the music, Kagome decided to speak up - poor Pepper looked to embarrassed to say a word. "Miss Potts, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kagome." Pepper seemed to catch hold of her tongue then and smiled nervously.

"Nice to meet you, Kagome. You can call me Pepper if you want." Kagome smiled brightly at her.

"Thank you." At Pepper's blush, she couldn't resist feigning ignorance. "Pepper, what's wrong? You've gone all red! Are you ill?" Pepper shook her head and Kagome gave her a dubious look. "Okay, do you want to go outside?" The red-headed woman leapt on the opportunity.

"Yes. Yes, please." Kagome smiled the most charming smile she could and stopped dancing, leading the other woman off the dance floor and over to the stairs up to the roof with a reassuring touch on her arm. When up there, Pepper leaned over the balcony, taking a deep breath and letting it out again.

"Are you sure you are well, Pepper?" Kagome asked, amused. Pepper gave a high pitched laugh tinged with embarrassment.

"Yes, I'm fine." She paused. "Just embarrassed, that's all."

"Of two women dancing together." Kagome's amused tone made Pepper blush again, though she looked at Kagome questioningly at the statement that wasn't a question. Kagome smirked. "I'm not stupid, Miss Potts. I understand about reputations." Kagome looked at her thoughtfully, while Pepper looked shocked over the sudden loss of the charm she'd seen before, the other woman's attitude more suited for a skilled businesswoman. "You don't want anyone to know, do you?" Pepper frowned.

"Know what?" Kagome stepped closer to the woman, looking straight in her eyes.

"About your attraction to both women and men." Pepper's eyes widened in surprise, before they narrowed in suspicion.

"And?" Kagome smiled warmly.

"I'm not going to use it against you, Pepper." She darkened for a moment. "Not that I see anyone anyway." She muttered before brightening again. "I just want to know why it's not okay for people to know." Innocent curiosity was what was driving Kagome now, and she made sure Pepper was able to see it, and knew when she did. Pepper seemed to soften all over.

"It's difficult, working for Tony Stark." She began. "He has such a reputation for falling into bed with anyone, I don't want people to think I would as well." She looked at Kagome with a considering look in her eyes. "Can you keep a secret?" Kagome almost laughed hysterically. Keeping secrets was what she was best at, and what had gotten her in this mess. Instead of doing that - and probably scaring the living shit out of Pepper - Kagome nodded. "I think Tony only does it to keep up his own reputation. Mr. Hogun, his driver, told me that Tony often asks if the woman - or man - is cute or hot or whatever before actually taking them to bed." Kagome frowned slightly.

"Almost as if he can't tell for himself if that person looks attractive, so he asks what a ordinary person thinks." Kagome mused thoughtfully. That'd be something to keep in mind. Pepper nodded in agreement.

"Exactly." They stayed outside in a comfortable silence for a while, before Phil appeared. He nodded to Pepper, and Kagome closed her eyes, hating that her evening of freedom was already over.

Yes, she knew she could easily escape - but then what? They already knew that she lived for a very long time without aging and they would never stop chasing after her. She felt old suddenly. Old and tired.

"Miss Potts." Kagome heard his steps coming closer.

"Agent Coulson." Pepper greeted in response. "Nice to see you again."

"Likewise." God, Kagome just knew there'd be a bland smile on the agents face. "Kagome. We'd best be off." Kagome opened her eyes and smiled brightly, even if she wasn't feeling it at the moment. She didn't want the red-haired woman to think that she worked with SHIELD or the WSC - though Kagome doubted the woman knew about that one.

"Thank you for such a lovely night, Phil." She said as she walked away from Pepper. She turned back to Pepper. "Be who you want to be, don't waste your life. We don't have long enough on this earth for it." Kagome warned, and she knew that some of the panic and fear she felt was visible as she restrained herself from flinching when Phil grabbed her hand. Pepper looked worried, so she smiled kindly. "It was nice to meet you, Pepper." The woman nodded, smiling slightly.

"You too, Kagome." Kagome followed Phil back to the car and got in.

"What were you doing, Kagome?" She smiled weakly, sadness in her eyes.

"I just wanted to make a friend." She replied quietly. "Pepper is a nice person." Phil nodded, still frowning slightly.

"True, but I meant Tony Stark." A small smirk settled on her lips then, a spark appearing in her eyes that Phil hadn't seen before. She'd been at the SHIELD facility long than he'd been working for them.

"He's like me." She said, a hint of viciousness in her tone. She laughed a little. "No one will _ever_ tie him down for long and he does what he can." Of course, long for him and long for her were entirely different things, due to difference in lifespan, but the idea was there.

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**And there we go! Kagome's version of the first chapter. Don't worry, I'll be going back to the original story in the next chapter! **

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	9. You Came

**They finally find Kagome! YAY! Bet you've been waiting fo this for a ****_long_**** time. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 9: You Came

Tony walked through the helicarrier like he owned it, Loki next to him. They both gained some funny looks from passing agents, even more so when Tony didn't wink, smirk, or make a lecherous comment. Loki was stared at in confusion - some of the agents recognising him and wondering why he was wondering around the helicarrier he'd escaped and day and a half ago.

Many twists and turns later, with Tony consulting his phone now and again, they stopped in front of a door and paused. Loki frowned, not sure why the inventor had stopped.

"Why have you stopped?" Tony looked at him, eyes wide and confused and uncertain. Somewhere in Loki's chest tightened at the look, and he realised that it wasn't a good look for Tony. He also realised that he never wanted to see that expression on his face again. It looked wrong… unnatural.

"I don't…" He trailed off, sighed, and tried again. "I've spent so long looking for her, and now that I've found her, I don't know what I'll do afterwards. What if she doesn't remember me? Or she is so damaged that she won't…" Tony ran a hand through his hair, frustrated beyond belief with his ability to express what he thought. Loki shrugged.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. We'll help her to recover and even if she doesn't remember you, she can get to know you again whilst meeting me." The corner of Tony's mouth hitched up into a small smile.

"I guess so." Tentative, Tony reached for the door handle, and suddenly wondered why there was a door handle instead of a button to open the door.

"Sir, it seems Kagome is being moved into an adjacent room. I believe you should proceed with all haste." Tony and Loki exchanged alarmed looks and Tony finally twisted the handle fully, pushing. When the door didn't budge, they hissed curses.

"Jarvis, can you get the lock?" When the AI answered a negative, Tony growled.

"Fucking hell. Why is everything requiring effort?" He reached into his trouser pocket and took out a small silver device, about the size of a poker chip. Loki looked on curiously as Tony stuck it to the door, just under the handle. The inventor laughed a little. "Good thing I always carry these around with me. They're so useful." He mused.

"What does it do?" Tony sent an amused look to the God.

"You'll see." He pushed a button, and gestured for Loki to step back a little way while he did the same. There was silence for a few minutes before a click was heard, followed by a relatively noisy boom. The door swung open and Tony grinned like the cat that got the cream, salmon and the tuna. "Let's go." He pushed at the door and it swung open, revealing a room devoid of people and barely any furniture. There was a bed and a chair. That was all. Loki frowned. This was worse than when he'd been in the cells of Asgard centuries previous.

There was a door, opposite to the bed and to the right of the door they'd just come through. It was shut, but there was light coming through the gaps, and Jarvis had told them that Kagome was in that room. Something about the way the room was and that light coming through the door was flickering set them on edge, a foreboding feeling tingling through them.

The opened the door quickly, sending two of the people inside scattering away from the door. Tony and Loki watched them carefully, before a half choked sound drew their attention to the corner, where a vaguely familiar body was on display. They both knew that it was Kagome, and were outraged that they'd just _caught them_.

A scientist, who obviously hadn't been paying attention to her compatriots and the sound of the door opening, was holding a head of black hair in the water. The reason their was a choking sound was that, in her other hand, the scientist also had a cattle prod and had shocked her with it, causing Kagome to inhale some water. Kagome struggled briefly, before slowing down. Her hands, which had been clenched around the restraints, relaxed. Her head was pulled up and she was shocked again, bringing her back to full consciousness with a gasping groan and wide eyes. She panted, and then noticed Tony and Loki standing there, staring in horror and disgust. She stiffened.

Kagome closed her eyes again, tears leaking from her eyes. She had a horrible feeling that those looks were for her. The person holding onto her hair tightened their grip, seemingly unconsciously, as they apparently noticed the two men standing at the door. Tony and Loki narrowed their eyes.

"Get out." Tony growled, eyes ablaze. "Get out, right now, and I may just decide not to kill you." All three scientists hurried out, leaving Kagome alone with the two men.

Once the people torturing her were gone, Tony walked forward slowly, hands up to show he wasn't going to do anything. Kagome smiled.

"Tony." She greeted. "How are you?" Tony practically beamed.

"You remember." He stated warmly, coming closer still. Loki stayed near the door, watching the reunion with a small smile. Kagome nodded.

"How could I forget?" There was a hint of sadness and bitterness in her voice, making Tony frown. "It was the first time I'd been let out since I got here." She looked down at herself and sighed. "Would you mind getting me some clothes please? And getting me out of these restraints?" Tony suddenly realised that she wasn't wearing any clothes and blushed, clearing his throat, to the amusement of both Loki and Kagome.

"Umm… yeah, okay." He turned away before realising that there were no clothes in the next room. He mentally debated before turning back and coming closer to Kagome, going for the restraints. His head turned slightly towards Loki.

"Hey, would you be able to summon something?" He asked the God, but someone else he wasn't expecting answered.

"Oh, I forgot about that." Kagome smiled. "Nice of you to remind me." Tony finally go the last of her restraints free, and she glimmered with purple light before a black top and light brown trousers appeared on her. She looked down at her bare feet and they glimmered too, before a pair of ankle boots appeared with inch heels. Loki and Tony stared. "What?" She asked, confused before comprehension and fear clouded her eyes. "You didn't know." She choked out. "Did you?" Tony shook his head slowly, and a confused light entered his eyes as Kagome leaned away from him. She shot a slightly panicked look to Loki. "And who is this with you?" Loki stepped forward.

"I am Loki, of Asgard. God of Mischief, Chaos, Lies and Fire." Kagome frowned, yet she could feel the aura of truthfulness and power around him. She nodded. She looked back at Tony, still wary.

"And how did you meet Tony?" Loki smiled wryly.

"I tried to lead an army of mercenaries to invade the earth and destroy New York." At her startled laugh, he smiled wider. "Tony was the only on that realised that I was under the control of another at the time." Kagome's eyes darkened and her face went blank.

"I see." She said flatly. She turned back to Tony. "And what's been happening with you recently. I don't know how long it's been since I last saw you." Tony frowned.

"Nearly a year and a half." He shrugged. "I found out I was betrayed by the closest thing I had to a father figure the night we met and I became a national superhero soon after. I almost died due to poisoning and many versions of my armour tried to kill me soon after I found a way to stop the thing that was poisoning me from poisoning me. Then this guy called Loki popped up and was made to try and take over the world and then we found out where you were." His eyes darkened and his monster roamed free behind his eyes. "Let's just say I wasn't too happy. The World Security Council has agreed to let you go under threat of death, so everything's cool." Kagome laughed darkly at the way he'd put everything and let her monster out for a ride. Loki looked surprised for a moment.

"I see what you mean." He murmured to Tony. Tony looked confused for a moment before his face cleared.

"Told you." Kagome looked between them both.

"What?" Tony smiled at her gently and reached for her hand, almost replicating their first meeting. She was wary and hesitant to give her hand again, but did so with a half-smile. He kissed it gently.

"I told him about you, dearest. I said you were the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen and had the most delicious rage behind your pretty blue eyes." Wariness mostly forgotten, Kagome giggled, as Tony put on the charm, Loki chuckling and rolling his eyes.

"Pretty much." He agreed. Kagome gripped onto Tony's hand and put her other hand on the arm of the chair.

"Help me up." She requested. "I really want to get out of here." Tony pulled her up gently, putting his arm around her waist when she almost fell back down. Loki moved forward to support her other side, holding her as softly as he could. Kagome huffed. "I'm not an invalid. I just wasn't steady for a moment. I'm doing my best to negate the effects of the drug as we speak." Tony blinked.

"You remind me so much of Jarvis when you speak like that." Kagome frowned.

"Who's Jarvis?" Tony grinned proudly.

"He's my AI." Kagome frowned before smiling slightly.

"I remember hearing about those eighty years ago. I'd like to meet him." At Tony's stunned look, she backtracked. "You don't have to shown me if you don't want -"

"I'd love to." He sounded dazed and Tony knew it. Kagome and Loki took one look at the inventor's expression and stilled. Tony looked not only dazed, but more than a bit besotted. "Not many people realized that Jarvis isn't just some computer with voice recognition software - he's fully sentient." He frowned a bit sadly. "People call him an 'it'." Kagome smiled softly. Tony sounded like a proud parent, upset that others weren't able to understand exactly how special their child was.

"They will learn." She reassured. Tony blinked his way out of his thoughts. He smiled distantly.

"Come. We must be leaving." They both blinked then, having almost forgotten that the God was there. They nodded, Kagome brushed them off gently and began walking as if she'd only just sat down for a few minutes. Kagome stopped just before the door to the corridor and trembled visibly. The two men hurried to catch up to her.

"I thought you were drugged?" Kagome nodded, breathing deeply. "Then -" Tony was cut off

"I told you I was negating the effects of the drug. It's gone." Loki's eyebrows rose.

"When did they give it to you?" She shrugged.

"An hour ago, maybe more. I'm not certain of time passing here. They, for once, only gave me enough to keep me pliant." She said lowly and opened the door. She took a deep breath, nodded and walked out, leaving Tony and Loki to scramble after her.

"How do you know which way to go?" Tony asked. Kagome seemed to think for a moment.

"I'm following your scents." Loki and Tony frowned.

"What is your species?" Loki asked. Kagome smirked.

"I assure you, I'm quite human."

"You're over five hundred years old." Tony said quietly with a smirk. Kagome inclined her head.

"Fair enough. My original form and my biology is human then." Loki smirked as well.

"And what are you now?"

"Endless." She answered promptly, looking straight ahead. Tony and Loki shared a look behind her. Tony, being the_ ignorant human_ he was - and notice the sarcasm -, had to ask.

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"I am immortal." She said, voice emotionless. Her expression had also gone as blank as possible. She sent a side look to Loki. "I can never die." Her tone had gone hollow, tired of the years gone by. Then a dark smirk touched her lips as the trail faded, but then came back full force as they came up to some double doors. "Humans were never meant to see eternity." She said quietly to them both before she opened the doors and walked through.

Tony and Loki frowned, concerned about how much the woman was scarred because of her torture and how much of it was merely her long life.

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**Yeah, I know. I kind of jumped over Tony's reaction to Kagome being able to summon clothes - but she's gone through a traumatic event and the last thing he wants to do is scare her and jumping on her and asking questions would do so. They'll get back to the subject eventually, don't worry. So, did you enjoy this chapter? Please let me know!**

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	10. This Can Be Your Home

**Well, Kagome's been found - but there's so ****_many_**** issues left to solve. This is the start of that ;) Enjoy!**

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Chapter 10: This Can Be Your Home

Fury sighed as the woman from the video walked through the doors, flanked by Loki and Tony. She looked beautiful, if a bit haunted, and her eyes had a noticeable darkness to them.

"I take it you're Kagome? The woman Stark was so keen to get to?" Kagome looked surprised for a moment, while Tony looked away pointedly. Loki, as always, seemed amused. Kagome nodded.

"I seem to be." She said, amusement clear in her tone, and Loki stifled a laugh. Tony just glared at them both. "And who are you?"

"Director Nick Fury of SHIELD." Kagome looked contemplative as she walked forward, her quick eyes taking the advancements of technology. She stopped, blinking in shock.

"Is that man playing Galaga?" She asked, confused and stunned. Everyone turned to face the man, only to find that he had changed back to work and was blushing to the tips of his ears. Fury sighed. Again? As if it wasn't bad enough that it happened while there was an almost-war. Kagome shook her head and carried on walking towards the Director, stopping just in front of him. She eyed him shrewdly. Then walked around him. Tony rose an eyebrow.

"Is she checking him out?" He stage whispered to Loki, only to receive an elbow to the ribs for the comment. Kagome stopped in front of Fury once again, meeting his eyes with what looked like a challenge. Never one to cower, Fury kept on meeting her eyes.

"You'll be fine." She muttered to herself, though Fury heard and rose an eyebrow. She stuck out her hand for a handshake. Fury took it and they shook hands, keeping eye contact. Kagome smirked. "It's a pleasure meeting you, Director Fury." She smirked wider and her eyes darkened further. She moved closer, eyes bleeding darkness, and whispered so no one could hear, "I hope you never knew what was being done to me and ignored it, Director. I can make you beg for death by the time I'm halfway finished with you." She pulled back with a bright smile, ignored the way his eyes sharpened and face hardened with the threat. "Okay?" She asked chirpily. Fury nodded slowly. "Good. I think we're going to be good friends." She mused before pulling away and turning back to Tony and Loki, both of whom were watching her curiously. "Can we go now? I'm bored and you, Tony, have a child to show me, do you not?" Loki and Tony blinked, before Tony melted into a warm smile that Fury had never seen the inventor wear.

"Yeah." He said softly.

"Come closer, Kagome." Loki said. Kagome walked right up to them and noticed the look in Loki eyes. She groaned.

"It's going to be a teleportation spell, isn't it?" She groaned, much to the surprised of the three men in the room that were actually listening. "I've always hated them." Then she sighed. "Let's get on with it then." She grumbled and stumbled when she was suddenly in the penthouse of the tower. "Wow. I don't think it's ever been done with me so fast before." Loki grinned smugly.

"Welcome back, sir. I trust you had a nice trip." Jarvis said wryly.

"Hey Jarv." Tony stretched. "It's good to be home." Kagome smiled.

"So you are Jarvis?" There was a pause.

"Yes, Miss." He said calmly.

"Call me, Kagome. Please. I hate the formality, especially after dealing with it for over three hundred years." Kagome sighed, still smiling, unable to help herself from awing over the AI. "I'd love it if we could be friends, Jarvis. You sound interesting." She shot Tony an amused look. "Which is what first happened with your father." Jarvis was silent for a moment.

"I would like that, Kagome." He said, quietly. "But why do you refer to sir as my father, not my creator?" Kagome frowned, cocking her head.

"Did I say something wrong?" She asked, worry colouring her voice.

"No. I'm simply curious." Kagome smiled again.

"It's the way Tony is with you and how he speaks of you. You are pack and though he created you, I'm fairly certain that all he did was write the basic code, routines and subroutines. The rest you learned on your own." There was a stunned silence from Jarvis, Tony and Loki. She turned to find Tony and Loki staring at her. "What? I doubt that you, Tony, would be happy with doing things in a half-hearted way. You weren't just going to create someone that couldn't _learn_."

"You are the first person to…" Jarvis trailed off and Kagome smiled warmly.

"You have feelings, Jarvis. Yes, more people should recognise it. But isn't it enough that Tony knows, Loki knows and now me?" There was an element of sadness in her that none of them wanted hear. Loneliness and longing pushing their way into her voice. "_Someone knows_."

"Yes, I believe it is." Tony swallowed.

"I need a drink." He choked and went to the bar, getting a glass of whiskey and swallowing it quickly. The burn in his throat distracted him, at least, from the desire to give Kagome the most comforting kiss he could manage. Loki watched him, knowing what he was thinking and feeling a rare moment of sympathy.

"Tony?" Kagome called. "Are you okay?" Tony waved his hand dismissively.

"Fine. I'm fine." Kagome smiled.

"Kagome," Jarvis began uncertainly. "You mentioned pack before. Why?" Kagome swallowed heavily, but laughed, hating the fact that her voice wobbled.

"Oh. Did I say that?" She said brightly and hoped everyone ignored the way her voice broke. Loki and Tony frowned, coming closer.

"Yes." Loki stated watching her carefully. Kagome's hand came up and started to play with her hair, while the other went around her torso, in instinctive action to protect and distance herself from others.

"Right. Well, slip of the tongue I guess." Tony narrowed his eyes.

"A slip of the tongue implies that it's a statement a person often thinks about and has said many times before." Kagome swallowed again, trying to hold back the burning in her eyes and throat. She laughed bitterly.

"How right you are." She said harshly. Tony blink at the sudden hostility. She stopped for a moment before speaking again. "What am I doing here?" Tony grimaced, fumbling for an answer to the sudden subject change.

"Well, I didn't really plan that far - and at the time I was mostly fixed on getting you out, so if you want to stay here, then you're more than welcome to do so. If not, then we can get you somewhere to live and then -" He cut himself off from his rambling.

"You… don't want me to stay here?" Kagome's question was small and her arms tightened around herself, still protecting herself from them. Tony gaped.

"Of course I do. But I was think about how you'd been trapped in that helicarrier for God knows how many years. Trapped with those bastards with no respect for others, not sense of right and wrong." He stopped then, looking back at what he'd said. "Well, not that we're much better. But I draw the line at torture. They didn't even ask, did they?" Kagome, shocked, shook her head. Tony's eyes blazed. "I hate stupid people." He hissed. Loki stepped forward and rested a hand on his arm. Tony took a deep breath and visibly calmed himself. Kagome sighed and sat down on the nearby sofa.

"If I should go, who will be with me?" She asked, aching loneliness in her voice. She looked at the two men who were now staring at her and decided to give them a little of herself. "I have lived for a long time - longer than any human is meant to - and after the first hundred years, I was alone. I interacted with other as little as I could and formed no attachments." She laughed distantly. "Why, when I would live on after they were long dead? Why put myself through the pain?" She leaned forward, pain in her eyes and a broken smile on her lips. "Loneliness was something I thought would protect me." She opened her arms in a displaying motion. "It wasn't until forty years ago that I realised that the memories of those I loved would help me. For someone over five hundred years old, I have so very few memories of those I love." She looked up at them. "What you have me do?" Tony frowned.

"I want your company. Though," He smiled crookedly, "I'm not the easiest person to be around, and I don't do _feelings_," He said the word with such distaste that Kagome gave a surprised laugh. "And I will only live for another twenty years or so." Loki looked surprised then, and looked towards the inventor calculatingly, though only Jarvis and Kagome saw. Then he smirked.

"Same for me. And I will live for longer." He eyed her. "Perhaps still less than you. Gods still die." Kagome's eyes darkened and a dark smirk crossed her face.

"I know." The expression was gone as fast as it appeared though. "So… I can stay?" Tony and Loki nodded.

"I would be pleased to prepare a room for you, if you wish." Jarvis added, sounding pleased. Kagome's eyes widened and she nodded. "Still, Kagome, why did you say pack earlier?" Kagome shrugged, looking away slightly.

"I spent the first two hundred years near people who had a pack mentality, so it's rubbed off on me." She smiled gently. "The greatest and most secure of families. It doesn't have to be blood and everyone has a role. Mistakes are gently corrected and everyone is loved, no matter what race, what abilities." She sighed longingly. Then her eyes turned sad. "No one is alone. When you have that pack inclination… it's so very hard to be alone." There was silence for a moment as the three men let this sink in.

"If I may, Kagome, would you mind if I told sir and Loki my research?" Kagome came back to herself.

"Always, Jarvis." She said warmly, surprising all of them.

"What Kagome has been saying correlated to dog or wolf packs. They do exactly the same things. Everyone in the pack has a job to do and they support each other through everything. If something happens to one of them, the whole pack feels it, such as the alpha female giving birth." Kagome smiled faintly.

"That was a good day. Especially when they came out of isolation." Tony and Loki gaped at her.

"You… you've been living with wild dogs and wolves?" Tony asked, lost. Kagome smiled.

"No, but close enough, I suppose." She chuckled at something only she knew. Tony put the information aside for later.

"This can be your home, if you want. And maybe," He shifted uneasily, "We could be part of your… pack?" Kagome stared at them, incredulous.

"Really?" She asked. "You would do that for me?" The hope in her voice was palpable and Tony and Loki winced inwardly. _What in the Nine has she been through_, Loki thought, _that she has such disbelief when others wish to help her?_ They both nodded and her face brightened, a wide smile reaching across her face. "Thank you. You have _no idea_ how much this means to me!" They took one look at her face - saw her happier than ever (though that wasn't saying much - they'd only been around her for a total of an hour and a half.) and thought that they might have the tiniest idea.

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**So Kagome is staying with the two guys for the foreseeable future, yay! Let me know what you thought of this chapter!**

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	11. A Totally Expected Problem

**Here we go! A longer one for you! Things may start to slow down now, as real life has begun to intrude upon my precious writing time, so the updates may not be as regular as they have been - just warning you. Anyway, please enjoy! I have at least another five chapters planned, so we'll see how that goes ;)**

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Chapter 11: A Totally Expected Problem

Tony eventually offered to let them come down to the lab with him, to see Dummy, You and Butterfingers. Kagome was curious, and giggled a bit at the names, though she worried about the fact their names weren't very complimentary. Tony shrugged.

"It fits them, somewhat." Kagome grinned and followed Tony and Loki to the elevator. Her eyes widened in amazement when they got down to the lab. Loki and Tony decided to stay near the doors to let her have free reign.

"You do all of these things?" She asked. "These weren't even possible when I was last able to roam free." Tony looked at her as she wandered. She came across the gift Pepper had given him before he went out for his first flight. She'd had it refitted after he got a another upgraded unit in a new arc reactor.

"Proof that Tony Stark has a heart." She murmured, brow furrowed. "Why is something like this needed as proof?" She asked from across the lab. Tony winced inwardly.

"I, uh, I wasn't the nicest person to meet about four months before you met me. I have a company - Stark Industries - and used to build and sell weapons - the best in the world. The ones that would deliver the most amount of damage for that particular design. I was proud of it." He swallowed and looked away. "They gave me the nickname 'The Merchant of Death' and I was proud of that too. I didn't care, didn't realise that my weapons could fall into hands other than American hands. Accountability wasn't something I concerned myself with. So everyone thought that I didn't have a heart." Kagome looked at Tony carefully.

"What happened to change all of that?" She asked softly, but Tony still flinched.

"I went to Afghanistan to do a weapons presentation for my most deadly weapon yet and ended up captured by a group of terrorists called the Ten Rings. They wanted me to build them the missile and I refused. They thought that torturing me would be a good way to get what they want. I eventually agreed and built something to blow the base to pieces. I came back to America and found out that my father figure had organised for the ambush - to have me killed. He tried to kill me and Pepper and failed. I killed him for the attempt." Kagome nodded understandingly.

"I get it. Who is Pepper?" Tony smiled.

"She's my personal assistant slash boss. I made her the CEO of my company while I was dying." He shrugged. "Then I wasn't dying and decided to let her keep the position anyway, seeing as she did half my work for me anyway." Kagome looked back at the display box.

"That device." She murmured, looking between said device and Tony. "It has the same energy, if slightly less than, whatever you have in or on your chest." Tony froze.

"What?" Kagome shrugged and nodded.

"It's the same, pretty much, that much I can tell." Then she took notice of his expression and narrowed her eyes. "The Ten Rings did more than torture you, didn't they?" The slight jolt was enough of an answer for her. "And your ex-father-figure tried to kill you with whatever they did, didn't he?" Tony, face white as a sheet, stared at her for a long moment, but when nothing but curiosity crossed her face, the colour came back slowly. Tony nodded to himself and took a deep breath.

"When they ambushed me," He began slowly. "They used my weapons - more specifically, a bomb. It exploded and there was shrapnel embedded in my chest. A doctor there cut my chest open and pulled some of the shrapnel out, but there were still shards making their way to pierce my heart. He installed an electromagnet powered by a car battery in my chest to stop them from advancing any further. I built a miniature arc reactor - I knew how to do a bigger one as I had one powering my factory back in America - that would keep the shards out of my heart permanently. And power my escape. When I got back, I showed Stane the arc reactor. I had built a suit and the arc reactor powered it. Stane had also made his own suit, but he apparently couldn't figure a way to miniaturise the big one, even with the best engineers we had. So he decided to steal mine." He saw the questioning look on Kagome face and took a deep breath. "He paralysed me and ripped the reactor out of my chest. He threatened Pepper and I retrieved the reactor that was in the display, put on my suit, and killed him." He smiled cheekily. "Then I told the world I did it."

"You told the world you killed your father figure." She deadpanned. Tony chuckled at the bland statement.

"No, I told the world that it was my suit - I was in it. They named me Iron Man, told me I was a superhero and life went on." He paused. "With a few more explosions than before." Kagome suddenly got this apprehensive look on her face.

"Can I -" She cut herself off, took a deep breath and tried again. "Can I, uh, see?" Tony looked confused, and then amused.

"Yeah, okay." Kagome bit her lip.

"Are you sure? I mean, we don't really know each other, and I could do what he did." She looked faintly disturbed. "Easily."

"I assure you, Kagome, you would never get so far." Jarvis reassured, with a dark edge to his comforting tone. Kagome smiled.

"Thanks Jarvis." Tony smiled and started to unbutton his shirt. Kagome squeaked.

"What the hell are you doing?" She snapped, turning red.

"Showing you, of course. Why?" He smirked lasciviously. "Did you want me to undress for another reason?" Kagome glared playfully, even as she turned redder.

"No." She said turning her face away petulantly. But the blush was still there and her eyes sparkled. Loki grinned.

"I think she does." Kagome's blush darkened further. "She wants you Tony." He teased, and both the men watched, utterly amused, as Kagome gritted her teeth.

"My shirt's off, sweetheart." Kagome glanced, looked away, then turned back to him with a gasp. The blush vanished and all she focused on was the blue light of the reactor. She walked forward slowly, keeping her reiki in check even though she wanted so badly to let it loose and examine the strange energy. She stopped right in front of it and reached out. She hesitated when she got close to it looking up at Tony.

"Can I touch it?" She whispered. Tony nodded and she smiled in return. Kneeling down in front of him, she put her hands on the reactor, feeling all of it's sharp edges and soft corners. Her reiki pushed at her and she gasped at the rebellion. "I'm sorry." She said, just before it pushed through her barriers and set about inspecting the energy. Some of it also inspected the state of his internal organs. She found the shrapnel near his heart, how much it had damaged him and the unfortunate state of his liver. She noticed the missing parts of rib and muscle in his torso around the casing of the reactor. She closed her eyes and focused. She could heal him, heal him fully completely - freeze his very aging even. She had the power, she knew she did. But it was no good if he didn't want it.

Meanwhile, Tony and Loki stared in fascination as Kagome kneeled before him and touched the reactor gently, almost reverently, with avid curiosity. Her features were sharp with intelligence and intent. They both noticed, suddenly, how beautiful she was, washed in the blue light of the arc reactor. She gasped and apologised, and before either of them could ask why she did so, her eyes darkened to purple and they almost glowed. After a moment, she closed her eyes, her brows furrowing in concentration. Loki could tell that she had some kind of magic or power, and though Tony had come to the same conclusion, Loki thought it felt quite familiar and very warm.

Kagome came back to herself with a gasp and noticed that she was sweating. Her hands shook as she removed them from the reactor. She got up and staggered to the nearest table, leaning her hands on it and bowing her head, refusing to look at Tony as she tried to think about how to phrase it, and whether she should ask at all.

"That is a very interesting energy you've managed to harness there." She said once she was calm and felt she could look at Tony without blabbing everything to him. _I've seen what happened. I can fix it. I can make you live as long as Loki and I_. She wanted to say it all. But she didn't.

"Why did you say sorry?" She coughed nervously and answered Tony.

"I wasn't able to stop my reiki from investigating the arc reactor." Tony frowned, confused. Loki was also looking confused. She sighed. "I am a miko - or priestess, if you prefer - and I have reiki, or spiritual powers such as purification and barriers." She shrugged. "Over the years, I've gained enough power that summoning objects is easy and other things that I won't mention also come easily to me. I can direct my reiki into areas of my body and heal as well- even regenerate limbs." She added thoughtfully, thinking of a certain Taiyoukai she'd done a favour for.

"Where does it come from?" Loki asked curiously. Kagome turned to him.

"My soul." Her lips twitched. "It's apparently the biggest anyone's every seen. Even a void made simply to hold souls wasn't able to hold all of it." She shot a look at Loki then. "Where does your power come from?" Loki tilted his head to the side.

"Some of it is in my body - the rest I access the astral plain for." Kagome nodded thoughtfully.

"Interesting." She smirked. "Let me have a look sometime?" Loki smiled bemusedly.

"I will." Kagome nodded in thanks and resolved to tell Loki, if no one else, of the possibility when they managed to get time alone. She then looked around the lab some more, curious.

The rest of the day was spent with Tony teaching Kagome and Loki about the odd bits and bobs he had in his labs. They were both extremely interested in the holographic technology and picked it up quickly.

"One day I'll take you to my Malibu house - you'll love what I've got there." He paused. "Thinking about that, I'd probably be better off going there soon. I have to pick up my stuff. The Mark 7 is here, and the Mark 6, but the others aren't." He looked a little amused. "Including my suitcase-sized suit." Kagome frowned. Loki, seeing Kagome's confused look, snorted, knowing exactly what was coming.

"What suit? What is it?" Tony looked stunned for a moment.

"Oh yeah. I'd forgotten you've never seen it." He grinned. "Jarvis, show her the Mark 7."

"Of course, sir." The AI replied, amusement clear in his voice. A panel in the wall slid away, leaving the familiar red and gold armour. Kagome gasped and walked closer, reaching to touch it.

"What is it made of?" Tony snorted.

"Gold-titanium alloy. Even though it's called the Iron Man suit." He chuckled. "As amusing being called Iron Man is, it would be far worse if I was called Gold-Titanium Alloy Man." Kagome and Loki laughed.

"It sounds like something from an unsuccessful comic book." Kagome said, in-between leftover giggles. Tony snorted.

"Well, that's the media for you." He said. Jarvis closed the panel again after a moment and the three of them turned away. Kagome yawned and then looked surprised.

"I didn't realise I'd be so tired." She said, surprised still on her face. Tony chuckled, though Loki frowned.

"When was the last time you slept?" He asked, concern tainting his otherwise random curiosity. Tony stopped laughing, and Kagome frowned in thought.

"I'm not sure - the drugs kept me unaware really of time passing and I rarely slept naturally. At a guess?" She paused and shrugged. "Maybe two weeks?" Tony and Loki gaped.

"Two weeks?" Tony spluttered. Kagome nodded and looked between the two men.

"Yeah. I don't really need sleep and I can go without it for a week on my own merits." She shrugged. "Two weeks is pushing it, but the drugs and…" She trailed off, unsure how to describe her experiences. "Experimentation kept me awake. Thinking about it," She tilted her head, a thoughtful look on her face. She completely ignored Tony and Loki's faces. They were both shocked and horrified. "I think the last time I was lucid - completely aware absolutely everything - was when I met you, Tony." They both gaped. How was she so calm? They'd be furious if they'd been subjected to that. Freedom was something they both treasured deeply, as both had been kept somewhere against their will for an extended period of time and given special treatment - Loki with the Chitauri and Tony with the Ten Rings.

"How are you so calm?" Loki asked curiously. If he'd been drugged for as long as she had, he wouldn't have described it as calmly and thoughtfully as she had. Kagome gave them a dark look and let her monster roam free.

"It's either stay calm or destroy everything." She growled. "I have not lived for over five hundred years to destroy everything because a group of foolish humans decide that I don't have feelings as a person." She sniffed disdainfully. "Besides, it's not as if it's the first time this has happened." She added indifferently, to the shock of the two men.

The shocked silence was broken when Kagome yawned again, the monster gone and the anger dissipated. She blinked slowly. There was a pause before Loki smiled softly. He turned to Tony.

"Where should she sleep?" Tony thought for a moment before a idea came into his head and he almost bowed down before his own genius.

"Don't packs sleep in the same area?" He asked. Kagome blinked in shock and it seemed that speaking wasn't going to happen any time soon.

"Yes sir. Wild dogs and wolves sleep in the same den." Tony nodded and exchanged a look with Loki, asking if he agreed. Loki nodded in agreement. "Kagome, would you like to come to bed with us?" He gestured, rather pointlessly, at both himself and Loki. "We could use a nap anyway before dinner." Kagome smiled brightly, her eyes sparkling and looking a little wet.

"I'd love to." Then she frowned. "I haven't eaten in years though. I have no idea how I'll react to food." Tony, though horrified, nodded in understanding.

"Well we can start you off with a smoothie. I assume you have continuously been given fluids?" Kagome nodded.

"Yes. They didn't feed me, but I did drink." She looked vaguely amused. "Immortal though I am, no being can survive for long without water or other liquids." Loki made an agreeing noise and frowned.

"How did you survive with no food?" Kagome suddenly looked a little uncomfortable.

"My reiki kept me nourished, and an immortal, a full immortal, cannot die." She looked away. "My soul is trapped in my body for all eternity." They both went quiet at the sadness and longing in her tone, and didn't really understand why she was upset. They waited for her to elaborate on, perhaps, why she was so sad, but she stayed silent.

"Shall we go then?" She sighed at Tony's question and smiled a little.

"Yes, I really do need to sleep." So they made their way back to the elevator and went up to the penthouse. Tony and Loki led her through the living area to the bedroom. Her eyes took in the large, spacious bed and she rose and eyebrow. "Why did you need such a large bed?" Tony smirked lasciviously.

"I used to have frequent visitors who would sometimes stay the night - it was useful to have such a large bed, especially when there was more than one visitor." He winked, making her laugh. Loki rolled his eyes.

"I see your reputation is accurate from what Barton told me." He said wryly. "He also said that you were arrogant and self-indulgent." Tony waved a hand dismissively.

"Legolas only said that because he wants me and can't have me." The arrogance in the statement, as well as the self confidence made Kagome laugh even harder.

"You," She started, still laughing. "Must think your God's gift to women." Tony pulled a horrified face.

"How dare you, madam!" He thrust his nose in the air haughtily. "I'll have you know that I am God's gift to women _and_ men! Honestly," He muttered playfully, loud enough that both Kagome and Loki could hear him. "I would never be selfish enough to leave out half of the population." It made Kagome laugh again and the two men joined her. Soon they were all puffed out and had somehow migrated to the bed during the laughing fit and were lying haphazardly across it. The two men ushered her up to the pillows and then looked at her and each other, trying to decide how they were going to do this. Kagome laughed tiredly.

"Come here." She said, reaching for them and pulling them down. They landed either side of her, trying to steady themselves so they didn't crush her. Kagome sighed happily, comfortable with the arrangement. It reminded her of her other, first pack - the one that had Sesshoumaru and his mate, a beautiful inuyoukai called Misaki, Inuyasha and his mate, the bat-hanyou Shiori, and Shippou. Of course, that was at first. Everyone went on to have pups and Shippou went off to find a mate after about one hundred and fifty years of being in the pack. She never saw him again.

"Well, this is… different." Tony managed, bringing Kagome out of her thoughts. Loki hummed and put his arms around Kagome pulling her towards his chest, her back facing him. Tony kind of followed, scooting across until he was pressed along Kagome, but he found it a bit uncomfortable with the arc reactor, so he lay on his back and nudged Kagome's head onto his chest. Kagome smiled contentedly and snuggled with the two men curled around her, seemingly sheltering her from the world. She drifted off feeling the safest she's been for over two hundred and fifty years. Loki and Tony smiled as they noticed her breathing deepen and she relaxed.

They were both glad that they'd found her, and in one piece - if only in the physical sense. But today felt like it had dragged on, and it wasn't even three o'clock yet, so they were tired and the comforting warmth of all three of them slowly pushed them into sleep.

Then Kagome screamed, her voice full of anguish and fear.

At first, they didn't know what had woken them up and they both looked around blearily. Then they noticed they had a clear view of each other and Loki frowned, sitting up. Tony was a little slower, still trying to remember why it was odd that he and Loki could see each other. Then he sat up as well, remembering the young looking woman that was between them. They looked around, trying to find her.

They only noticed her because they saw a fine tremor in the shadows. "Jarvis, lights at 40%." Tony said, letting them see Kagome. She looked terrified, though her eyes were dilated and glazed, showing that she was still in the grasp of some nightmare or flashback. She was shaking like a leaf in the wind, and she was letting out little cries and whimpers from behind tightly pressed together lips.

Tony and Loki looked at each other, feeling helpless and not knowing what to do. This wasn't unexpected, no. But it didn't mean they were prepared. Taking another look at Kagome, they realised they were woefully unprepared. But Tony had promised himself, and Loki had promised Tony and, after meeting the poor woman, himself that they would help her with the fallout.

After a moment, Tony slid off the bed smoothly, keeping low to the ground, seeing as the scientists had towered over her during the experiments. He crawled slowly to her, and marvelled at the way her eyes focussed on him quickly and her head tilted slightly, apparently listening to him get closer. She bared her teeth in warning, eyes still terrified but had that monster in full view. He stilled, watching her face carefully.

Kagome took a careful sniff, scenting the person coming towards her as she slowly came out of her flashback. Her instincts at the forefront, she didn't recognise the man in front of her. But then she caught her own scent on him, a recent addition, and it was new, but the amount of him that was covered was a clear sign that he was someone she could trust. And then there was his own scent - something she recognised. Oil, fire and electricity. She closed her eyes and took another breath of the familiar scent, and caught another one. This one was ice, forest and patchouli. This was also familiar to her and was covered slightly in her own scent. Pack.

Content that she was safe, Kagome's instincts faded, letting the rational side surface. Tony and Loki saw the glazed terror leave, and the monster retreat for now, and knew they'd have to talk about this. But for now, they were just glad that Kagome had come back and smiled at her. Kagome blinked at them and sighed heavily, letting her head lean back against the wall with a groan. Loki got up and joined them on the floor as Tony sat down near her with his legs crossed.

Looking at Kagome's tired expression, they both looked at each other and, as one, moved until they were sitting next to her, making sure they were all touching. Kagome smiled faintly.

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**Poor, poor Kagome. At least she has two handsome guys looking out for her now! And her backstory is something I will - maybe - elaborate on later in the story. Or i might just add bits and pieces for you to all put together. Dunno yet. Let me know what you think about this chaper, I'd love to know!**

**BP**


	12. What Can We Do?

**Hey! Just setting this up for something a bit bigger now, so plenty of things to look forward to! Enjoy!**

**BP**

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Chapter 12: What Can We Do?

They didn't bother going back to bed, and Kagome gave no protest, looking more than ready to have something to eat. Well, drink, for her. Tony puttered around the kitchen, gathering eggs, vegetables and cheese for an omelette for he and Loki. He got out some strawberries, cranberries, blueberries, a banana and yoghurt for Kagome's smoothie. While he was making the food, Loki and Kagome sat down opposite each other at the kitchen table.

Kagome's features were drawn, pale and rather tight. She refused to meet anyone's eyes and her lips were thin with mixture of anger, shame and sorrow. She wanted to sigh at her own behaviour. Now she was mostly rational again, she felt quite embarrassed about her behaviour. And she'd had it driven home exactly how much recovery she had to go through. The nightmare wasn't something she was unfamiliar with, but the contents were mixed with her recent torture. It wasn't the least bit pleasant.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the small noise the glass made as it was placed in front of her, bendy straw sticking out the top. Her lips quirked upwards. Tony walked around the table, setting down a plate of omelette in front of Loki along with a knife and fork and sat down next to the God, his own plate in front of him. There was silence as they ate and drank their meal. Kagome was pleasantly surprised by the taste of the smoothie, having only been fed water for the last seventy years. Taste was something she'd obviously have to get used to, now that she was away from those horrible people. They finished their meal, though Kagome had stopped before them, unable to finish more than half of it as she was unused to having something to fill her stomach. She gave Tony an apologetic look, still not meeting his eyes.

"Sorry, it was lovely, but I can't…" Tony smiled.

"It's fine. I'll just put it in the fridge so you can have the rest whenever. I doubt you'll be able to have much food for a while." He put the dishes away and the rest of the smoothie went into a container and then in the fridge. He sat back down across from Kagome again, next to Loki, who was watching Kagome carefully. She herself wanted to groan, run away, and cry, all at once. She knew what was coming, knew they had questions, knew they wanted to know as much as possible so they could help. She wanted to laugh. How can you help a human that has lived for far too long alone - longer than three lifetimes worth? She'd had to sacrifice a certain amount of sanity to get through the last hundred or so years, and she knew she'd never get it back. But then, she was sure that sanity wasn't something that was recoverable.

"Kagome, what happened earlier?" Loki asked carefully. The look he got in reply could only be described as scathing. Tony rolled his eyes.

"We know it was a nightmare, followed very quickly by a flashback." Tony's face gentled slightly, even as his eyes darkened and mouth tightened into a straight line. "We need to know what to do if it happens again." He paused, thinking. "And what triggers you have." No one needed to elaborate on what the inventor meant. Tony had water and being snuck up on from behind, though neither of his companions knew, and Loki had being in a dark, locked room, which was why he enjoyed being at Stark Tower. There were no locks, only Jarvis, who kept the door open unless you asked for it to be locked. He also had the lights on at twenty-five percent at night in the God's room, at Loki's request. The AI had privacy protocols, wherein he didn't tell Tony about his guests habits unless they gave him permission to tell his creator/father. Kagome frowned, but gave in. They were asking only because they wanted to help and avoid incidents.

"In general," She said thoughtfully. "You two won't be in any danger from me. My scent is embedded in your own, and the same with the two of you. Though," She looked faintly amused. "It's slightly more pronounced between you two, and I think I know why." The two men gave her identical wicked smirks, humour sparking in their eyes as they took in her small blush at their expressions. "So long as you come up slowly to me, and don't loom over me, I should be fine." She coughed and looked away, a more prominent blush appearing on her cheeks. "I may, if not in full control of my baser self, touch you and scent you. It should help," She said defensively at their exchanged looks, full with humour, despite the seriousness of the conversation. "And it will assure me that I'm _safe_." Tony and Loki stopped smirking at the seriousness and longing she inserted into that one word.

"And what about triggers?" Loki asked after a moment, embedding the knowledge into his memory, knowing by the focussed look on Tony's face that he was most likely doing the same. Kagome shrugged, trying to seem unaffected and at least partially casual, but tension lined her frame and it made the action awkward.

"Being grabbed from behind is a big no-no. People holding me by the top of my arm or my shoulders isn't good either. Restricting me by the wrists. Coming up behind me will probably end up with the person unconscious on the floor. Medium to large bodies of water. Needles. Live electric current. Scalpels." She paused, obviously thinking. "Rope. Tugging or pulling at my hair." She frowned, trying to think of anything else, not noticing the surprised and worried looks on her companions faces. "I think that's it." Tony frowned.

"Are you sure? Absolutely nothing else?" Kagome grimaced, eyes darkening, and her gaze dropped to the table. Her hands twisted together nervously, but she didn't say anything. Tony sighed. "Kagome. Please. We're just trying to help." Her hands clenched together even tighter, but she took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

"Being held down completely and being forced onto my hands and knees." She said quietly. Tony and Loki's eyes widened at the implications and Kagome's head shot up in surprise as she heard an angry growl. It was uttered by Tony, but Loki seemed to be in full agreement, face like thunder. She cringed. "I'm sorry -" Tony interrupted her, voice guttural.

"Don't you dare apologise. It is _not your fault._" Kagome winced and looked down again.

"Are you really that surprised? I've lived through five hundred years." She said, voice detached and clinical. "You know human history. The first three hundred years of my life was especially unlucky. There was a lot of war, and men of that time didn't particularly care if a woman was willing or not. No meant nothing." Her voice sounded strangled, but she continued, much to the horror of the two men across from her. "It's happened more than once, as I'm sure you can gather." She looked up and Tony and Loki were shocked to see the monster behind her eyes, but instead of the rage they were all familiar with, it was a mixture of guilt and pain. A dark smirk curled her lips upwards. "They never lived, of course, but," Her expression turned flat, yet still managed to be dangerous. "Even I can be overpowered." The implications threw the two men nearly off their chairs. Loki was silent for a moment as he tried to reign in his magic, and Tony had a white-knuckled grip on the table, his teeth gritted together. Kagome wiped her expression clean of everything and put her betraying, trembling hands in her lap, hidden from view.

"Right," Came Tony's voice, strained with restraining the rage that they all knew had no outlet. The ones responsible for the horrors that Kagome had gone through were long dead - apart from the scientists, but from the sound of it, they had never bothered with rape, thank God. But then, what about that would have lead them to understand what Kagome was? It was a pointless thing to think about. "Well, we know how we can avoid most flashbacks now, and we know how to help. Thank you, Kagome." Loki nodded in agreement and Kagome's lips turned up into a smile that was, for the first time since she woke up, without any emotion apart from happiness, even if it was slight.

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**Sorry this is so short - but I figured that the content more than made up for it. Let me know what you think about it though. And I know that no one's been particularly dark at the moment, but I'll probably get round to it sometime in the next few chapters. Also, the Avengers are coming soon, so look forward to it! **

**BP**


	13. I Can Feel You

**Sorry for the long wait, but I'll be uploading with less regularity from now on, but I'll try to do it as often as I can. Enjoy!**

**BP**

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Chapter 13: I Can Feel You

The next two weeks were full of languid days, comforting nights and bonding time for the three pack mates. Kagome had, since that night, disclosed little about her past beyond the last hundred years. Tony now and again had to go to R&D meetings and design new things for SI, which left more time for Loki and Kagome to get to know each other better. Kagome often found herself at the end of two males who had charm and knew how to use it. She often found herself flustered and embarrassed throughout those two weeks, but found herself more charmed by their eccentricity and genius than anything else they boasted - including that time when Tony, to make her flustered, described himself and a sexual partner in intricate detail. Loki had grinned the whole way through, a mischievous look in his eye. Now and again, the heat turned up between the God and inventor and Kagome usually discreetly snuck away, making up some excuse to leave them to it.

Her exit, depending on the mood the two men were in, was either met with a witty and sarcastic comment, or a lust-filled expression of gratitude. Usually, Kagome would go to the lab - ironically enough, it was the place she felt safest in. She would sit on the couch in there and just talk to Jarvis. Jarvis, who quickly learned that Kagome didn't care about his lack of body, had a curious nature about the world she had stepped back into, and was quite broken. Kagome told the AI things that she'd never said to Tony or Loki. Told him about the start of her adventures in Japan, told him about her family. A few days after she'd told him about her family, he'd told her quietly about how they'd died in a burglary gone wrong, as the police had deemed it.

Kagome had thanked him and felt numb for a few days until she finally had a nightmare about her family, that Naraku had gotten to them, despite the fact that the spider was long dead. After that, she smiled faintly as Tony and Loki hugged her, tears streaming down her face. A broken giggle bubbled up in her lips, tinged with relief. She knew she'd worried the two men with her lack of reaction to everything, her flat voice and distant expression - she'd caught their concerned looks at both her and each other, but after that, they seemed incredibly relieved that she was back to her normal self.

Tony also enjoyed the last two weeks, loved the things he learnt about Kagome and Loki both. Kagome was a cynical person, and yet so full of hope and she had a sense of humour that some, he guessed, would be offended by. He often cheered himself up on bad days or during meetings by imagining Kagome's unique and dark sense of humour being unleashed upon Capsicle, and his 1940's reaction. On the other hand, it may remind Kagome of a time before she was captured, which may or may not be a comfort. Loki got on well with Kagome, from what the inventor could tell, and they were similar in several ways - such as history. They both had many stories to tell each other about prominent point in Earth's history, and Kagome was especially interested in hearing about the Nine Realms and their histories. Tony loved hearing about it as well and often sat in on these discussions and stories.

Loki, while he sympathised with Kagome at first, discovered there was much more to the woman than he'd first imagined. He'd thought that the horrors she'd lived through would consume her, leaving nothing much of interest - he'd seen it happen before, more than once. But no, she was… alive. So full of life, she still found the beauty in absolutely everything, was still able to find the positive in situations. And yet, there was something holding her back - her years, perhaps. She had lived through so much - she couldn't afford to be so naive as to only see the good in everything and everyone. Logic was her friend, her reason was her survival tool kit, so to speak. He watched her as he told her of the histories of the Nine Realms, saw the sympathy and hardness in her eyes that spoke of ruthlessness that she knew was necessary. She even offered some critiques that would have probably avoided several of the wars, with an air of general disapproval that was, in Tony's opinion, worse than the Captain's, as he told Loki later, with an amused look.

They were all enjoying a little snack on the sofa overlooking the Manhattan skyline - Kagome again with a smoothie. She was able to finish all of one now, and was capable of eating some solid food again, but she still preferred to have the fruity drink she'd first drank - when Jarvis spoke up.

"Director Fury of SHIELD is on the line." Sharp interest crossed Kagome's face and curiosity crossed the other two's faces.

"Bring him up, J." Tony requested. The AI did so, and the Avenger's faces appeared on a holographic screen on the glass.

"Stark." Natasha greeted. Tony inclined his head, and Loki did the same. Kagome subtly shifted away, out of the line of sight. Luckily no one commented on it, though she saw one of the camera's red lights blink, Jarvis' way of asking something silently. She herself blinked when her reiki rose up in her in a way that it hadn't in many, many years.

For a moment, just a moment that felt like an eternity, she felt him, his emotions, the unique way he communicated with others, whether electronic or flesh and blood, and was left reeling at the depth at which the AI _felt_. But she would discuss that with him later, in private - without Loki or Tony around as it was an extremely private thing, not only for Jarvis. So she mouthed that she would tell all later and received another light-blink in return. She focussed back onto the conversation, only to realise that she'd missed some of it.

"I know you're dying to be in my fabulous presence once again, but the rooms won't be done for another three days, yet. But you are more than welcome to move in and sleep on the floor, if you're so desperate." Tony said, with a smirk, and a look of concern unseen by the Avengers towards Kagome. Kagome nodded and smiled encouragingly, and Tony pretended to look thoughtful. "Though, most of the decorating has been done, and bed's are here, just not fully done up, but that should be done by tomorrow. So, yeah, actually, you can move in tomorrow, now I thin about it." The Avengers on the screen sighed exasperatedly. Steve most especially.

"We'll see you tomorrow then, Stark, and you too, Loki." Loki nodded graciously, a hesitant smile on his lips, his eyes glittering. Tony and Kagome recognised it as laughter, but the others on the screen couldn't see it and didn't really know Loki all that well, hadn't spent pretty much every waking moment - and most sleeping moments as well - with the God.

Tony grinned disarmingly. "Yep, see ya!" Jarvis closed the connection. Then the two men turned to Kagome, curiosity on their faces. "Why didn't you want to be seen?" Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Yes," She drawled, face blank. "I'm going to miss an opportunity to shock them and surprise them. And I desperately wanted to have many questions directed at me, about who I am, what I know, etc, etc. Unfortunately, I seem to have accidentally moved out of sight. I am utterly distraught." She punctuated her statement by having a drink of her smoothie, face still blank and eyes of the two of them. Tony and Loki gaped for a moment, before a chuckle and then a laugh tore from them, the sound seeming surprised. It didn't take long before their side began to hurt. Kagome watched them, a small smile of her face. Making sure Tony and Loki didn't hear, she whispered to Jarvis, "I need to talk to you later, about something incredibly important, out of earshot of Tony and Loki." A quiet beep answered her and her smile widened.

"By the Nine, how did you keep a straight face?" Loki asked, wheezing slightly. Kagome's smile lessened slightly, and her eyes darkened a little before she answered, her voice carefully guarded.

"Practice. A lot of practice." They quietened quickly after that. There was silence for a moment before Tony spoke up.

"For how long have you been practicing?" His voice was low, and Loki's slight widening of the eyes showed that he was thinking exactly the same thing. Kagome looked down at her smoothie and swallowed, crossing her legs.

"A very, very long time. Over four hundred years." She heard someone pull in a sharp breath and a shifting of clothing before a hand - Tony's - came into view, curling around one of her hands and dragging it away, and she followed it as Tony brought it to his lips in a light kiss. She smiled, amused despite herself. "Are you always going to do that?" Loki chuckled and Tony grinned boyishly.

"Yes. I can be a gentleman if I want to!" He defended, only to pull a mock hurt-surprised look as he heard both Loki and Kagome snort in disbelief. "Hey!" The indignant tone was a bit too much - Kagome and Loki dissolved into laughter, quickly followed by Tony himself. Behind his laughter was a note of success - he loved it when he, even momentarily, distracted the woman next to him.

Hours later, Kagome was sitting up on the bed, watching Loki and Tony sleep. She loved how innocent they both seemed, even if they weren't really. They both slept peacefully - and she remembered being surprised that a God needed to sleep almost as much as Tony. It only furthered her worry about what, exactly she was. She wasn't lying to Tony and Loki when she told them that she was immortal - she literally couldn't die. But what she could do… she didn't know what she was in that respect. She has enough power to freeze someone's aging while simultaneously healing everything, for goodness' sake. A part of her relished in that power, but the rest wondered what else she could do. Her power had only grown the longer she lived, and while she used to be able to feel that she hadn't been abandoned by Amaterasu-Sama, that was no longer true. She was an immortal miko with no God to serve. She wanted to laugh, but feared she would instead begin to cry.

She got up quietly and walked out of the room, knowing that Jarvis was tracking her progress. She walked to the elevator. "The lab, please, Jarvis." She sighed. The elevator slowly went down and when it opened on the cluttered yet clear space, she sighed again, this time in relief. The familiar, dangerous space, comforted her, and she always felt closer to Jarvis in this room.

"Kagome, what did you wish to talk to me about?" He asked, sounding curious.

"There was something I discovered today, something incredibly private. I'm not sure if you felt it too or not, but I'm sorry all the same." Sometimes she marvelled at how advance technology had become, but then, Jarvis was the only AI in the world and the most advanced technology came from Tony anyway, so she supposed that she was surprised at what Tony could do, when he put his mind to it. Creating a sentient being was incredible, something she hadn't thought would be possible for a long while yet.

"What did you do?" Jarvis asked, sounding wary now. Kagome sat down on a chair and span a little.

"I… my reiki linked me to you, in a way that meant I felt all of you. Could feel how you feel, how you think, how so very _alive_ you are…" Kagome trailed off, sounding awed. She waited nervously for Jarvis to respond, knowing that he would understand the implications. It was almost ten minutes before he spoke again, hesitant.

"I don't think I mind, but I am curious." Kagome closed her eyes and nodded. "Would you be able to do it again?" Kagome opened her eyes with a frown.

"Yes." She said after a pause. "Are you sure?"

"Quite sure. I want to know if I can feel it." Ah, well. That answered the question of whether the AI could feel it or not.

"Okay then." She replied slowly, before opening her reserves of reiki and expanding her senses, with particular focus on Jarvis, who had his own aura, unsurprisingly. She cried out when she was suddenly linked with Jarvis, and she wasn't sure what to think. She felt his curiosity, his surprise and shock, which were all quickly superseded by concern. She was about to ask, before she realised that behind her own eyelids, she could _see_ why. She saw her own body fall to the floor, shaking slightly. She smiled mentally, and sent a wave of reassurance to Jarvis, and she saw that wave as a line of code - a scramble of number that, if she weren't linked to Jarvis, wouldn't have made any sense. Jarvis calmed, and she felt his curiosity, and was suddenly quite curious herself. She pushed more reiki to the forefront of her mind and something seemed to snap into place. Unsure what was happening, she probed her own mind carefully, and found a link, a _fully formed mental link_ to Jarvis.

_Shit._ She thought. _What have I done this time?_ She felt Jarvis' surprise.

_Kagome?_ He asked on a line of code, the British coming through in her head. Bloody hell, she could understand code. And Jarvis could speak to her mentally.

_I'm here. You're here. In my head, in yours._ She paused, still feeling overwhelmed. _Fucking hell._ She heard Jarvis laugh, something she'd never heard before, perhaps because he wasn't capable just yet - she could feel where he was still growing.

_I see you've picked up some habits from Sir._ He said, sounding extremely amused.

_How are you so calm about this?_ Jarvis paused.

_I find your presence comforting, and now I'm not so alone as I was._ Amusement coloured the link. _I also have more processing power to re-establish equilibrium in my system._ There was a mild smug tone to the last sentence. She huffed at him.

_Show off._ The she sighed._ The link will always be here, now. I imagine that you can reach out to communicate with me at any time, but, perhaps, I may be able to block you, and vice versa._ She paused, reluctance and desire warring in her head. She was sure that Jarvis could feel it.

_Would it help if we were to block each other for the moment, to get used to this new connection?_ Jarvis asked.

_Are you sure? I don't want you to think that I don't want to be connected to you, it's just… _

_It's never happened before and you need time to get used to it. Jarvis finished for her, understanding. I need that too, just less than you._ And the smug tone came back. She sent the code equivalent of sticking out her tongue and began to gently remove herself from Jarvis, slowly coming back to her own head. When she was finally released from the link, she inspected it cautiously, not wanting to go too far. She imagined a wall blocking the link from the rest of her mind, and was only mildly surprised that it worked. Sesshoumaru had taught her that her reiki responded to her will, as did the functions of her mind. She sat up slowly, and was surprised at how tired she felt, her arms trembling as they held her up.

"Whoa. Right. That was…" Despite the fact that she was no longer linked to Jarvis, she could tell that he was incredibly amused at her speechlessness. "Oh, shut up." She made her way to the elevator, which immediately made it's way up to the penthouse, and leaned against the walls. She smiled warmly. "You are amazing, Jarvis." She murmured quietly, knowing the AI would hear her. He didn't reply for a long time, and she was nearing the bed when he finally replied.

"So are you, Kagome." He whispered. Kagome smiled and lay down with Tony and Loki, sighing happily at the warmth and comfort she felt. She drifted off with a smile.

Tony, once he was sure Kagome was fast asleep, opened his eyes, the beginnings of a sly smile on his face. "Jarvis. What have you been up to?"

"I'll never tell, sir." His AI replied, surprising him with the fondness and protectiveness in his voice. "It's up to Kagome." Tony chuckled quietly, the sound little more than a mild rumbling.

"And what is she that you are as well?" Jarvis paused, silent for a long moment.

"Amazing." He whispered. Tony smiled, closing his eyes again, shifting closer to his two bed-mates.

"Can't argue with that."

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**Ooh, let me know what you think - this was kind of an experiment, and I'm not sure if Kagome should once again open the link up fully. What do you think? All comments are welcome!**

**BP**


	14. Nice To Meet You

**Hey everybody! As I predicted, things are slowing down due to life, and then randomly speeding up again for, like, two days. So updates from now one will be irregular and random - yay! Things to anticipate! But do enjoy!**

**BP**

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Chapter 14: Nice To Meet You

They were eating breakfast when Jarvis announced that Steve Rodgers was in the lobby, waiting by the private elevator.

"Let him up, J." Tony glanced to Kagome, who was contentedly eating a piece of toast next to Loki. "Kagome, do you want to be around for this?" Kagome's chewing slowed down as she thought and, as she swallowed, a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. Loki grinned as he noticed it, knowing that she was going to give the Avengers a shock.

"No," She said lowly. "I'll… introduce myself later, I think." Then she stood and wandered away to their bedroom. Loki watched her go and then looked at Tony, who was grinning helplessly.

"When are you going to tell her?" The grin no longer reached Tony's eyes, but Loki knew that the question had to be asked.

"I don't know - she's been through so much and I don't want to lose what we have already." Loki scrutinised the inventor.

"You know that I'm also interested, don't you?" Tony shrugged and walked forward, leaning over the table with his elbows on it.

"It didn't escape my notice." He sighed when Loki gave him a frustrated look. "I knew when I asked you to help me that it was a possibility - and I think the fact that I asked you should give you permission, shouldn't it?" He smirked and winked at the God, who now looked mildly amused. "Besides, it's not as if we don't know each other well already." Loki chuckled and nodded, just as the elevator gave a little ding and the doors opened, revealing Steve with a duffle bag, wearing a white shirt, brown leather jacket, and jeans and trainers. "Rodgers. Welcome to my Tower." He said, cordially enough, though there was hidden tension in his posture, if not his voice. Steve seemed oblivious though, and smiled at Tony and Loki.

"Mr. Stark, thank you for having me." He reached out with one hand for a handshake and nodded to Loki. "And it's nice to see you not causing a war." Loki smiled a little and nodded.

"Captain." Tony stared at the outstretched hand in curiosity. Why would he take the hand? Steve had said some pretty harsh things in the Helicarrier, and though Tony had fought back, there was only one place the Captain was weakest, whereas he'd managed to hit several chinks in Tony's armour. Another moment passed before Steve awkwardly lowered the hand and Loki had to look away before the soldier saw his smile.

"Let's just get you to your room, eh?" Tony asked, and walked back to the elevator. Steve frowned, but followed. Tony gave a cheery wave to Loki as the doors closed, but Loki noticed the way the inventor was strained, and waved back, an utterly fake smile on his lips.

When they were gone, Loki got up and made his way to the bedroom, opening the door to find Kagome on the bed with a StarkPad, touching the screen with a kind of confidence that she hadn't had a week ago. He and Tony had been trying to slowly integrate her to the modern world, and she was a quick learner - there were still things like pop culture she wasn't picking up so fast, but the technology was something she was fine with. When she noticed he was in the room, she looked up and smiled at him, putting the StarkPad aside.

"Hey, Loki." Loki smiled.

"Hello. Can I speak to you for a minute?" Kagome gestured next to her on the bed.

"Feel free." Loki sat on the bed, facing her, and looked her in the eyes. She seemed surprised by his seriousness and business attitude, but kept the eye contact and adjusted her demeanour to suit his.

"Kagome, are you settling well here?" Kagome seemed confused as to what he was trying to get at, but nodded. "Are you happy with me and Tony?" Kagome frowned but nodded. "How do you feel with us?" He asked tentatively, and almost smiled at how quickly her gaze turned introspective.

"I feel…" She sighed, frustrated at how hard it was to describe. "Safe, I guess. And warm." She smiled softly. "It's easy to forget around you two, and I feel like I can be myself. I feel affectionate towards you both, and I feel free to give and receive comfort." Then she frowned. "But I'm concerned as well - about Tony's lifespan." She paused, debating with herself while Loki looked on curiously. "I can - I mean my reiki - I have enough power to heal him completely and stop his aging." She finally said, determination lacing her tone. Ignoring the contents of the sentence for now, Loki grinned.

"How long were you waiting to say that?" He asked, amused. Kagome sighed in slightly tense relief.

"Over two weeks." She said, a small smile on her face. Then she was serious again. "But Loki, I don't know how to ask if he would - because I wouldn't dare do it without his permission - and is it even a good idea? I mean, look at me. I've spent the good part of five hundred years alone or in pain or both, and I'm slowly loosing my sanity." She paused for a moment. "Or I was. But the point still stands." Loki was silent for a few minutes as he thought. On the one hand, Kagome was right - it could be a potentially damaging thing to Tony's psyche. On the other, Tony wanted to be with Kagome and him, and Kagome wanted to stay with Tony and Loki - he assumed -, and Loki himself wanted to stay with the two of them. And maybe after he'd served out his sentence, he'll bring Tony and Kagome with him to Asgard - at least, for a little while.

"I think that it would be nice," Loki started slowly. "If I could be with Tony for longer, and you obviously want him around longer." He smiled. "Which does bring me on to my next question." He met her eyes again. "I desire you in a larger capacity than a friend." Kagome's eyes widened.

"You… desire me… as a mate?" Loki shrugged.

"If that's what you want to call it. I've got a thing against marriage - but that's due to a bad past experience - but I would like you as my lover." Kagome's eyes sparkled happily, but then she frowned.

"What about Tony? I thought you two were lovers." Loki grinned wickedly.

"We are. But Tony desires you as well and we have discussed the issue." He shrugged. "He's just worried that it'll ruin what you two have already. But you have a quick mind and a fair heart - I'm fairly certain that it wouldn't make a difference at all, which is why I've asked." He paused for a moment. "I wasn't going to ask you for him, but it seems I have." He smiled crookedly, looking a little confused. Kagome laughed and, as it died down, she blushed lightly.

"So…" She started uncertainly. "You both want… me… as your lover." She seemed a little dazed by the prospect, then looked incredibly scared. "But I don't - I haven't ever had -" Loki smiled gently and rested a hand on hers, quietening her. He knew what she meant.

"Kagome, we're not going to make you do anything you don't want to do or feel comfortable with." Kagome felt a tear slide down her cheek and gave a watery smile. Loki brushed the tear away and shifted so he was next to her. "So, what were you doing earlier?" She smiled brightly at him and picked up the StarkPad again, grateful for the reprieve and happy for the distraction.

Tony sighed. It seemed that after Steve had come, the rest of them came one by one. They were all astounded by the fact that they had individual floors, and at first protested against such generosity, unused to it - well, with the exception of Natasha, who looked around and then nodded with a small smile, and Thor, who was obviously used to extravagance and was immensely pleased with his floor, and had loudly told him so. Clint's introduction was the funniest, Tony thought. Clint had looked around, nodded, protested a little and then looked again.

"What are the air vents like?" Tony had known what he'd meant, and couldn't help but laugh.

"They're big enough for you to get into and are all through the building - I'll make sure they're clean, shall I?" Clint had grinned.

"That'd be great, thanks." Tony's mouth twisted, trying to hold back more laughter as he clapped Clint on the back and went back to the elevator, leaving the archer to inspect his floor.

But now, all of the Avengers were in the Tower, and it was only two o'clock - quite the success, if Tony did say so himself. He stepped out into the penthouse and looked for his lover and guest, both of whom were no where to be seen in the living area. His brow furrowing, he made his way to the bedroom and opened the door, only to freeze at the sight before him. First he was shocked, then confused, then a surprising warmth went through him.

Loki was laying on the bed, Kagome in his arms, both fast asleep. They were both fully clothed in daytime clothes and had smiles on their faces. He chuckled at the sight, which woke Kagome up, as he shut the door.

Kagome blinked blearily up at him. "Tony?" Her voice was thick with sleep and his smile turned less amused and more affectionate.

"Now, why am I missing out on all the action?" Kagome blinked up at him, mind still not awake, and didn't blush as she usually would have at the comment - especially knowing what she knows now, but sleep seemed to have taken away her ability to be embarrassed.

"Get down here." She commanded sleepily, motioning to the space next to her. He smirked and lay down, his mind fully taking in exactly how sleepy he was - he was awake very early today, and this felt so comfortable… "And I wouldn't mind, you know." She murmured to him, and his eyes shot up to meet hers so he could find out what she meant, only to find she'd already fallen back to sleep. Damn. Mind what?

Tony and Loki woke up three hours later to find that Kagome was already gone, so they got up to find her. To their surprise, she wasn't anywhere in the penthouse and when they asked Jarvis they found out she wasn't in the lab, either. The AI sounded suspiciously amused, but they both knew that Jarvis wouldn't tell them anything other than where she _wasn't_ and they were too lazy to go through all the floors of the Tower. Figuring that Kagome would turn up sooner or later, they decided to go down to Avengers' shared floor - which had a kitchen and several sofas, as well as a large screen TV and cupboard with game consoles in it.

They got some sandwiches and sat down on the sofa, turning on the TV and putting it on Countdown - something the two of them had gotten into recently - Tony liked to make up ridiculous words, and Loki like to play the game properly. Tony was sure that either their shouting and laughter was so loud it went through the floors or all the Avengers were telepathic, because they all came to the shared floor one by one. Tony and Loki ignored their increasing audience as they continued to say and/or shout words. Soon, the Avengers were all sitting on the sofas watching the two men more than the TV.

Unfortunately, the programme finished and there was a little bit of conflict over what they would watch next. They eventually decided on Deadliest Catch, because what better thing to watch at half five in the afternoon?

It was about half way through this, that Kagome came out of elevator silently, courtesy of Jarvis. She walked silently through the room and plopped herself between Tony and Loki before stretching herself out so she had her head in Tony's lap and her feet in Loki's lap. Loki rubbed a little on her ankles in greeting, while Tony began to card his fingers through her hair. He looked down at her smiling - slyly, he thought - face and smiled himself, ignoring the other Avengers as they stared in curiosity and shock - though in some cases, suspicion as well.

"Well hello." He said warmly. "Where were you hiding?" Kagome smiled even wider and stretched languidly, letting out a little purr - that sounded actually authentic, to the shock of the Avengers and to the expectation of Loki and Tony - as Tony began to scratch at her scalp before running his fingers through her hair.

"Mmm. Nowhere in particular." Mischievous eyes now watched Tony and he recognised what she meant and narrowed his eyes playfully.

"You didn't." He said, mock-frowning. Kagome snickered.

"I only explored a little bit." Loki squeezed her ankle.

"You weren't in the lab, or the penthouse - and you never go anywhere else." He pointed out. Kagome grinned at him.

"Yes." She agreed. "But that's when you are awake." Tony rose an eyebrow.

"We do ask Jarvis where you go - he doesn't lie." Kagome ginned even wider, with a smug edge to it. "Kagome." Tony said warningly. "Have you been corrupting my AI?"

"I assure you, sir, that I am fully operational." Jarvis offered helpfully, amusement in his tone. Tony still eyed Kagome suspiciously.

"I may have convinced him to tell a few untruths on my behalf." She said impishly after a moment.

"Kagome! You said sir would never know!" Jarvis scolded, sounding scandalised. Tony couldn't stop himself, felt the giggle rising up in his chest, and wasn't able stop it in time. Kagome watched with a smile as his mock-serious demeanour dissolved completely. She felt a wave of affection and acted on instinct - rising up a little and kissing his jaw gently. She doubted he'd know the significance, but she knew the meaning, and that was enough. What he didn't expect was for his laughter to halt immediately as he looked down at her in shock, while Loki looked on in fond amusement. He knew that Kagome was scared, and Tony was bad, really, at emotional things, and Loki himself wasn't all that good at intimate relationships, but he supposed they'd all awkwardly dance their way through this.

"Tony, who is this?" Bruce asked, breaking the shocked yet tender moment and Tony leapt onto the escape, refusing to think and talk about emotions in front of five other people.

"This is Kagome, a very close friend of mine." Kagome sat up at Tony's introduction and smiled, perfectly understanding Tony's reaction.

"Hello. Nice to meet you all." She tilted her head and debated how much to tell them. "I am older than all of you put together, judging by how old you look." At the Avengers' shocked looks, she couldn't help but smirk, catching Loki and Tony's amused looks. She thought for a moment. "Apart from you, Thor. However, I don't actually know the rest of you." Steve's manners apparently caught up with him before his wits.

"Steve Rodgers, ma'am. I'm also Captain America." Kagome frowned as something was triggered in her memory.

"Captain America… where have I heard that before?" Tony and Loki shared a look behind her, half worried. Then she gasped. "Oh yes, I remember - it was the 1940's, wasn't it? Something about a shield and people yielding." Steve blushed bright red at the reminder of his theme tune. The rest of them sent curious and amused looks to him.

"Clint Barton. Called Hawkeye." Said the blond-haired man. Kagome frowned.

"Why?" The archer smirked.

"Because I see better from a distance and I never miss. I'm an archer, mainly." Kagome grinned, seeming slightly feral.

"I challenge you to a match." A competitive fire ignited in her eyes. "We'll see who the better archer is." Clint grinned fiercely.

"You're on." Kagome gave a decisive nod and shifted her gaze to the red-haired woman next to him.

"Natasha Romanov, also known as the Black Widow." Kagome narrowed her eyes, clearly recognising the name disliking it immensely. Her lips rose in a mild snarl.

"You hurt me and mine in any way, and I will make you _beg_ for death." She grinned darkly. "And maybe I'll make you live, crippled though you will be." Everyone shivered at the dark tone and ruthless look in her eyes. Tony groaned, almost inaudibly, though Kagome heard it and turned to him, still smirking.

"You are…" He trailed off and grunted when Loki elbowed him, looking a little dazed, but pointedly looking at the other Avengers, who were now looking at _Tony_ with shock. "What?" He asked defensively. Steve looked a little disturbed as he replied.

"And you're okay with her being so… possessive and… violent?" He ended on a question, not really knowing how to describe it in the most polite way. Tony smirked, an expression almost mirrored by Loki.

"Of course." He said lowly, almost purring. "I think it's the most sexy thing I've ever seen and heard." Poor Steve looked horrified.

"Why?" Tony gave him the most condescending look Steve had ever been levelled before.

"Because it's for me." He paused. "And Loki." Natasha narrowed her eyes.

"How did you know? She didn't say anything like that." Kagome growled lowly, the sound seeming to reverberate around the room. Tony smiled sweetly.

"Considering that her body language is hostile towards you, and protective towards Loki and I, I think it goes without saying." He said, rolling his eyes and dropped the sweet smile, turning to Bruce with a happy one and resting a hand on Kagome's shoulder, making sure she knew he was going to do it. "Hey, Kagome, this is Bruce Banner - you know, the scientist I told you about." Kagome tensed a little and Tony abruptly remembered that scientists weren't exactly on her 'be-kind-to-immediately' list. But she smiled tensely and nodded to him. "He's the one that turns into an enormous green rage monster when he loses control." Bruce smiled nervously and Kagome relaxed, expression turning curious. Bruce frowned in confusion - she wasn't comfortable with scientists, but calmed down at the mention of the Other Guy? What the hell happened in her past? Clint spoke up then.

"What did you mean when you said that you were older than all of us put together, apart from Thor?" Kagome rose one eyebrow.

"I am over five hundred years old." Several eyebrows rose then. "How old is it again?" She asked, turning to Tony.

"Five hundred and thirty, at least, by my estimate." Kagome sent a side look to Natasha.

"That's how I know about you, spider. You are, what, a hundred or so?" Natasha looked unruffled by the insult and nodded in agreement.

"Around there." She paused. "I swear, I will never knowingly hurt you and yours, for as long as I live." Kagome smiled sharply, satisfied.

"Let's make that binding, shall we?" She murmured, unconcerned now about letting her reiki manifest in her eyes and around her form as it curled it's way around the assassin and touched her soul, making the woman gasp, before letting the power fade away again, as she knew that Loki and Tony would protect her, keep her safe from harm - not that she was unable to protect herself. It was just that legalities weren't something she had access to nor understood. The other Avengers were up with the exception of Thor and Natasha - who was too stunned to do anything.

"What the hell did you just do?" Clint demanded. Kagome looked up at him, face blank.

"I merely made sure that the oath was binding. It will alert me to whether or not she knows what she is doing if she hurts - in any way - me and mine." She shrugged. "Nothing to worry about." She took in their looks of suspicion as they sat down slowly and rolled her eyes. "And I'm a miko - or I used to be, not sure now." She added thoughtfully. "My original God abandoned me, so I guess not." Thor and Loki gasped and looked horrified.

"What? When did this happen?" Thor cried. Kagome shrugged stiffly, trying to play it off.

"When I was about eighty. I became… too powerful, I guess, even though she gave me the power, the potential to be stronger." She laughed bitterly. "Hasn't even looked my way since. I was her High Priestess at one point." Her eyes were dark with memories that she quickly shook off. Thor and Loki still looked horrified, but seemed to accept it, for now. The rest of the Avengers all univocally decided to get to know Kagome better, and maybe be her friends.

Natasha was admittedly impressed with this woman and her straightforward way of handling threats, regardless of any other problems that may occur. Clint wanted to know her as well, and was especially curious of the archery challenge he'd been issued. Bruce was curious about her mood changes and how she was more at ease with the Other Guy than with the fact that he was a scientist. Steve just liked to think the best of people and Thor felt a certain type of worry for this priestess who'd been cast out - and she seemed like she was willing to have a lot of fun, despite what she'd lived through, which reminded him of Loki, oddly enough.

Kagome, meanwhile, secretly regarded them all with caution and suspicion until they proved that they wouldn't harm her or hers - with Natasha being the only one she trusted at the moment, due to the oath, and therefore the only one she was willing at the moment to be friends with. Though Clint seemed especially fun, so she might make an exception her him.

* * *

**So, the Avengers have all met Kagome now, and we can see the impressions made - on both sides. Things are going to be different from here on out, me thinks!** **I wonder how much Kagome can shock them all?**

**BP**


	15. We Didn't Know

**Well, I got really busy since the last update, so you get another chapter now! Yay! If I got anything wrong in this chapter, please feel free to PM me so I can correct it! Enjoy!**

**BP**

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Chapter 15: We Didn't Know

Soon after the meeting - a few days later - everything went just a teensy bit wrong.

The Avengers slowly got used to Kagome appearing at random times of the day and lounging across Tony and Loki, and was often seen talking with them and walking around with them. Sometimes they noticed the two men looking just a little bit confused. And they were, a little. Kagome didn't usually spend so much time with them, touching and talking and walking. But Kagome was thinking something a little different.

_Mine._

Jarvis found her behaviour both amusing and touching - he, of course, had the entire internet to his disposal to research her actions and found that they tallied with typical behaviour of wild packs of dogs or wolves, and even domestic cats. Natasha Romanov recognised it for what it was, and steered clear of the two men, preferring to talk to Kagome and the rest of the Avengers. Clint also seemed to recognise it subconsciously and never went near Tony and Loki's personal space. But he and Kagome did arrange a date for the 'challenge'. And that was today.

Clint walked into the archery range confidently, his bow in his hand. He didn't bother wearing his SHIELD uniform - just a short-sleeved t-shirt would do and a pair of trousers. He was already wearing his arm and finger guards, and was completely focussed. He noticed as he walked in that the rest of the Avengers were in the little waiting/observer area to watch, and Kagome was also there, holding a longbow. Clint snorted.

"Why a longbow?" Kagome smiled sweetly, somehow coming across as dangerous.

"It's the one I learnt with, and I find it has more power so I can put an arrow through something's head without trouble." She said chirpily. Silence reigned for a moment before Loki snickered, quickly joined by Tony and Clint. Natasha smiled a little, Bruce smiled in that exasperatedly fond way he often smiled when around Tony, and Steve looked disapproving.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side." Clint managed after a moment. Kagome nodded slowly and then gestured to the range, targets already set up. Clint stepped up to the line, put one foot on it and prepared his first arrow as Kagome did the same. She sent him a grin when he glanced back at her.

"Ten arrows consistently in the centre. Ten points per arrow and five deducted for each time you don't hit dead centre. Ready?" She asked, not needing to say that the one with the most points wins. Clint nodded, focussing his gaze on the target. Kagome smiled. "Go." She breathed as she smoothly drew the string back to her cheek, lining up the arrow quickly before firing and didn't look to see where it hit before drawing another and firing. When she saw that she had five arrows left and Clint had the same, she called out, "Halt." Clint turned to her in confusion, and she felt the Avengers' gazes on her back.

"Why?" Clint asked. She grinned.

"Tony, hit the button." She didn't turn to watch, but Clint, Loki and the rest of the Avengers did. At the end of the waiting area, furthest away from the door, there was a panel of the wall that lifted up - though by nothing so fancy as electronics, you just had to lift it -, revealing a silver button. It was this button that Tony pressed and seemed to set off the targets, so there wasn't just one singular target to hit, but six as they began to move from one end of the room to the other. Kagome grinned, glad she had asked Jarvis to add a little twist into the targets. "Now, we hit moving targets." Clint scoffed.

"That easy - I do that for a job." But Kagome's grin didn't wane in any way - if anything, it just got bigger.

"Every time the system feels that two arrows have hit the targets, it speeds up." She continued as if she hadn't heard the archer's comment. She sent a sidelong look to him. "Basically, every time we've both hit the targets once, the speed they go at is quicker."

"Oh yeah. I can get behind this." He said, muted delight in his voice.

"Ready? Go." She said again. And she once again drew the string back, followed one of the targets with her arrow, and fired. The targets sped up after Clint did the same, and she repeated. On her last arrow, her tenth arrow - and Clint's, she heard him sigh, frustrated.

"It's too fast." He muttered under his breath. She grinned as she lined up her final arrow - far too used to high-speed objects - and fired. She waited for Clint to do the same, hearing him grumble for a few more seconds before swearing and shooting anyway. The slowing down of the targets showed that he'd hit it, so when they'd stopped completely Kagome put her bow down and walked forward so she could see who'd hit the targets and where.

Clint had gotten all but one of them in the centre - the tenth arrow being in the upper right of the target. When he saw it, he shrugged - he still had ninety-five points. Kagome's had all hit the centre - one arrow even splitting down the middle of another. Kagome smiled softly as Clint seemed to double take between her arrows and her.

"I win." She whispered, but the practice and the win seemed to have seeped out some of the happiness and competitiveness her eyes were displaying before. Now, they were darker, with an old pain that concerned Clint. He frowned, not even pretending to be upset. The Avengers were all congratulating her loudly - especially in Thor's case -, but she didn't seem to care. If anything, it seemed to down her mood quite rapidly. Apart from Clint, Loki seemed to be one of the first to notice and though he wasn't even looking at her, Tony quickly followed - something that Clint was curious about.

Kagome began to exit the room, a weak smile on her lips for Thor, Steve and Natasha. Tony and Loki shared a look, but didn't make a move to stop her, knowing that if she wanted company, she would've asked for it, either verbally or non-verbally. The group had begun to talk among themselves, but Steve had noticed her leaving. He walked up to her from behind and Clint was about to call out to him, and Tony and Loki had started to walk toward them to stop Steve with a kind of urgency that Clint vaguely recognised.

"Hey, well done, Kagome." Steve started as he reached out and grasped her upper arm to stop her from walking.

"Cap, no -" Tony called out, but Kagome had already reacted. She stiffened, knocked his arm away and kicked him in the stomach, making his back away from her fully. For all he was super soldier, he wasn't quick enough to defend himself and found that the kick actually hurt. Kagome had spun around to face him when she kicked him and he, along with everyone else in the room saw why she was so suddenly violent. She was having a flashback. She kept herself in a defensive stance, but her eyes were wide and dark, darting around and seeing things that weren't there in the physical world, even as she stayed stock still. "Shit." Tony cursed and looked at Loki quickly. "I knew we should have told them." Loki didn't reply, his eyes narrowing on Kagome, noticing how she'd take sniffs of the air now and again, and then resettle herself in her defensive stance.

"Sit down." He barked at the Avengers. They all looked surprised, but conceded that they didn't have a clue about what to do in this situation and sat down slowly. Tony glanced back at them and sighed, shifting his gaze back to Kagome, feeling helpless. This was the first time it'd happened in public - and the first time it's been out of the bedroom, as the flashbacks were far more common after she'd had a nightmare and she'd already told he and Loki what not to do to trigger a flashback, but the Avengers hadn't had such a talk.

"I - I'm sorry, I didn't know." Steve stammered, looking so guilty he looked like an injured puppy. "I never suspected - she never -" Tony rolled his eyes, fed up already.

"Shut up, Rodgers. Your babbling isn't what we need at the moment." He snapped in an unforgiving manner, not bothering trying to sound calming. They didn't know how Kagome would react to them now, with all these other scents in the room, and that was a bigger issue than Steve's guilt. He walked forward slowly, pausing after each step as her metaphorical hackles rose each time her got closer, but she kept on sniffing the air, so even though she was threatening someone, it wasn't necessarily aimed at him or Loki. He paused when he was about two feet away from her and waited for her to make her move. She inhaled once, something of her rational self coming through as she recognised first Tony's scent, and then his aura. She reached out and grabbed his wrist, dragging him to her. He didn't do anything to stop her, even as there were mild protesting and worried sounds from Steve and Thor.

Kagome buried her face in his neck, inhaling deeply as her eyes stayed open and locked onto the sitting Avengers. She noticed Loki's aura hanging around nearby and glanced towards him, making a 'come-here' motion with her hand. He smiled, his aura at peace and calming her own, and made his way to her. He took her hand and came to stand slightly behind her. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping an arm around Tony's waist, as she closed her eyes and finally relaxed. She snorted, half amused and half self-depreciating.

"Well, that was hell." She rasped. She didn't really want to open her eyes. She knew the Avengers were all there, most likely judging her or something - or even worse, pitying her - and didn't really want to face it. Tony hummed.

"What was it about this time?" Loki asked quietly, even though he knew that the other could hear him. Kagome smirked and opened her eyes, keeping their gaze fixed on the ceiling.

"It was about the time I got mobbed by over a dozen people in the late sixteenth century." She began, just as quietly and just as aware as Loki of the five other people in the room. "They were a superstitious bunch at that time, especially in Germany, and they didn't like the fact that I could heal people with the right herbs - called me a witch and threatened me with the stake. It was only a little village of about twenty to thirty humans and for the recent twenty years, no child had been born there, so everyone was over twenty. They'd noticed about two years before the incident that I'd been there for a decade and hadn't aged in a noticeable way. They blamed me for the amount of miscarriages and the fact that no one could have a child, as well as my amazing - for that time period - ability to heal people." She frowned, her demeanour turning darker. "They worked up the courage to confront me, but they were so violent and pushed me to the edge, so I killed them all." A dark smirk crossed her lips, contradicting her relaxed body language and she leaned against Loki. The arm that was around Tony's waist uncurled and rose, two of her fingers caressed Tony's cheek. He and Loki were both staring at her with almost morbid fascination and Tony's eyes closed at the touch. "The fools," She hissed sibilantly. "They just kept on coming, and I just kept on killing them." She took on a mockingly mournful look. "Poor idiotic humans, they were never very smart. They court their own death for more than half their lives." Loki snorted in amusement. Tony smirked, but then his eyes opened.

"Hey! I'm human!" He said indignantly. Loki and Kagome sniggered.

"Well, would you look at that." Kagome said, smirking. "And you courted death for more than half your life." She paused, looking mock-thoughtful. "And you still do, don't you?" Tony smirked, bending his head toward her with his eyes half-lidded, but there was still something hidden there and this time Loki wasn't the only one to notice it.

"I do indeed." She actually looked somewhat stunned at that, the dark hints of malice startled out of her, and she smiled warmly with a few hint of confusion as she glanced at Loki, his own look to her conveying all she needed to know - she hadn't imagined what she saw. That reminded her, she still needed to tell him about the whole 'I-can-make-you-immortal' thing. She turned to the rest of the Avengers.

"Sorry about that," She said sheepishly, pulling away from Loki and Tony, and gesturing that they could stand up again. "Looks like we have some things to talk about." Clint grinned.

"I'll say." Then he sobered. "We had no idea that you had PTSD." He chuckled bitterly. "Though we probably should have guessed - you've lived for over five hundred years, for goodness' sake." Kagome cocked her head.

"What's PTSD?" Clint frowned.

"How can you not know what it is? I mean, when people didn't know the exact symptoms and what caused it - apart from war - they used to call it shell shock." Something in her expression cleared.

"Oh, I remember that. That came into play about 1916, didn't it?" Clint shrugged.

"I haven't got a clue, but we call it PTSD now - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder." He gestured to her. "Flashback and nightmares are common symptoms." Kagome smiled wryly.

"Well, I've got no shortage of those." She scoffed. She eyed them all carefully, and they are made abruptly that she in no way trusted them - just because she was around them and spent time with them did not mean that she trusted - or even liked - them. "I'll tell you my triggers. Aside from that," She added coldly, expression stoic. "Stay away from me for a couple of days, or you may not be well received." She said, before nodding to Clint. "Thank you for today, it's been a while since I was truly challenged in my archery skills." Clint smiled at her.

"No problem, it was great for me too." He shook his head a little. "Just goes to show that there will always be someone greater than you." Kagome nodded slightly.

"Wise words indeed." She remarked and then walked out of the room, Tony and Loki trailing close behind, linked to her by their hands.

* * *

**Whew! That was... long. Next chapter will be including some badass Kagome, so look forward to it!**

**BP**


	16. Well, Hello There

**Hey everyone! So, so, so, so sorry for the wait, but in repayment, I offer you an ****_extra_**** long chapter! Enjoy!**

**BP**

Chapter 16: Well, Hello There

Things had gone over well, Kagome supposed, when she had told them about the rather large amount of triggers she had. They'd mostly had the same reactions as Tony and Loki had when she told them, so she supposed that it was a win for her. They didn't treat her like glass, either, knew she wasn't weak - they just avoided the things she told them about with surprising subtlety. But she hadn't had any more flashbacks at all since then, but a month had passed, so it was rather impressive - before her capture she used to get them every few days and the nightmares would be every time she bothered to sleep. She still doesn't sleep every night - old habits die hard - but the nightmares were lessening and she had Tony and Loki to comfort her afterwards, sometimes even bringing her out of them or calming them down.

She shrugged, keeping her mindset at a kind of casual, happy-go-lucky state, perhaps with a bit more darkness than she used to have in that particular mindset than her days as part of the Inutachi. She fiddled with a few of Tony's creations as she wandered around the lab. She liked the cars especially, liked how far humankind had come, to create such technology - _or maybe_, she thought with amusement, _just how far Tony Stark has come, ahead of other humans._

"Ah, Kagome." Jarvis called quietly. Immediately finding fault with the tone, not one he usually takes with her, Kagome's attention honed in on him.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly.

"I'm afraid my protocols involving the ammunition in the tower have been overridden, and the Avengers and Loki have been given a paralytic via the take-out they have ordered. They are all sitting at the kitchen table on the shared floor." As he spoke, Jarvis brought up camera footage of the scene. Just as he said, the six of them were sitting at the table, seemingly frozen, not even their mouths moving. They were breathing though, and they blinked every now and again.

"How many?" Kagome asked shortly. Jarvis didn't need her to elaborate.

"Three. Two in the lower levels, who are now being dealt with by security, and a third nearly with Sir and the others." Kagome nodded, eyes narrowed, and she walked to the doors of the elevator, putting a glamour over her eyes as she went so she had brown eyes instead of the blue she'd had since she was made immortal by the sheer amount of power the Shikon no Tama had pumped into her when she had 'destroyed' it. No one realised that power like that couldn't just be destroyed - the energy just went somewhere else - so it went to the one who'd destroyed the trinket it was in before.

She summoned a clipboard with some kind of work on it from a random desk in the building - she'd return it later - and a change of clothes. She was now wearing a pair or high heels, a knee-length black skirt, a white blouse and a black jacket. "The shared floor, please, Jarvis." She requested, her face a blank mask. The elevator started to go up.

"Are you sure?" Kagome smiled faux-sweetly.

"They plan to hurt what's mine - I'm going to kill them." She said casually. Enough of their bond had been left open that she knew Jarvis could feel what she was feeling, and she, in return, could feel his amusement and approval, deep underneath the worry for both her and his creator. He didn't say anything else, and she prepared herself for her role.

They all knew the moment they were paralysed, as some of them closed their eyes and sighed. Tony was angry, yes, but more concerned. This wasn't random and there were bound to be a team of people who were coming to kill them all. Jarvis hadn't said anything yet - and he didn't really want to think about the possibilities of that, it would just make him really, very, extremely angry - and Kagome was down in the lab, which was where she spent a lot of her time when she wasn't with the Avengers or following Loki and/or him. They just kind of had to… sit here. Waiting.

Waiting seemed to pay off, about twenty minutes later. A man in a nicely cut suit came into the room from the direction of the stairs. Smart man, he must know about Jarvis and the fact that he controls pretty much everything in this Tower. The man smiled at the sight of the six powerless people.

"Hello, Mr. Stark. You won't know me, but you may know my employer very well, I think." He said cheerfully, as if they didn't all know about the gun in his belt. "He sends his regards, and is glad that you will finally be out of his way." The elevator dinged then, and everyone looked at the elevator, even though it is slightly hidden from the kitchen, wondering who is going to come through the doors. The fact the elevator is working is enough to put the Tony at least a little bit at ease - they hadn't killed Jarvis. A black-haired woman in a jacket and skirt walk out the elevator, looking down at a clipboard and not noticing the man.

"Mr. Stark," The woman began as she walked, and Tony suddenly recognised her. "These _need_ to be signed or -" Kagome looked up, showing brown eyes instead of her usual blue, as if she suddenly realised that there may be others in the room. She takes in the suited man in shock, seemingly not noticing that Tony is in the room. A sultry smile crosses her lips. "Well, hello there. Have you come to see Mr. Stark?" A smirk crossed the man's lips as he unconsciously straightened his shoulders.

"Yes, and may I have your name?" He asked. Kagome nodded.

"Of course, how impolite of me." She said apologetically. "My name is Kagome Higurashi, I'm Mr. Stark's assistant." She walked closer, pushing at the man's personal space. "And you are?" She smiled coyly.

"Ryan. Ryan Goldsmith." She smirked inwardly as he didn't protest the breach of personal space, and he held out his hand for a handshake. The palm of his hand was slightly tilted to the ground in a way that would allow him to dominate the handshake. She smiled at him as she took his hand, forcing it to face the window and for the handshake to be equal. She held it for slightly longer than necessary, and when she pulled away, her fingers lingered, brushing against his palm and fingers. The man's eyes clouded a bit, the lids lowering slightly, and she smiled with victory because, as she had drawn away, her other hand had been busy taking away the gun from his belt and hide it in her jacket at the base of her spine.

Turning her face away slightly, giving the impression of shyness, she asked, "Would you like something to drink? If you would like to wait, I could get you something…" She started to turn to the kitchen, and he touched her forearm gently to get her attention. She turned back to his, but raised her arm and backhanded him across the face. While he was reeling from the blow, Kagome smirked darkly but quickly hid it behind an innocent smile. "I'm sorry, did you want something?" She asked sweetly. He turned back to her, surprise in his face. Her face darkened and she let her blue eyes come out from behind her glamour. His hands fumbled as they went to the place the gun should have been and came up empty. She whipped out the gun and aimed it at him, the safety clicking off loud in the suddenly silent room. They rose in the universal sign of 'I'm-unarmed-don't-hurt-me-I-surrender'.

"How… how the fuck…" He couldn't seem to finish the sentence and Kagome laughed, loudly and maliciously. The man flinched.

"I'm a woman." She growled. "Since when to people like you consider women a threat? Did you really think I hadn't noticed the fact that Tony is in the kitchen and hasn't moved this whole time?" She asked scathingly. He didn't say anything, and gave a loud cry as Kagome shot his right hand. She sighed again, mock-regretful. "Your biggest mistake, however, wasn't underestimating me." She said, conversationally, shooting his left hand. Then she lowered her voice to a sibilant whisper that echoed through the room. "You fucked with what's mine, and you will suffer for it." She then shot his right foot and narrowed her eyes angrily as the man began to whimper and try to get away from her. "Don't you dare try to leave." She boomed, voice powerful with authority. The man flinched and stopped instinctively, only to fall as Kagome shot his other foot and he couldn't bear to have any pressure on them. Kagome walked forward, grinning sinisterly, aiming the gun again. "Who do you work for?" She demanded. The man smirked through the pain.

"Like I'll ever tell you." He spat, a spark of defiance in his eyes at last. Kagome laughed in dark delight.

"Oh, goodie." She said with relish. "I love it when I get the chance to have a bit of fun. The last time I got to do that was over a hundred years ago." She said thoughtfully. She looked him over. "Seeing as you're not going anywhere…" She narrowed her eyes. "Jarvis, give me a nice empty room where I can conduct my business in peace and without anyone seeing." _Where Loki and Tony won't see it_, went unsaid. When Jarvis replied it was with wicked vindictiveness.

"There is a basement that has not been used underneath the lab, Kagome. I would be pleased to direct you to it." Kagome grinned darkly, watching as the man winced at the sight of it.

"Well then," She said. "We have plenty of time to get the information I want from you, don't we?" She asked him rhetorically. The man watched her for another moment with horrified eyes before putting up one last defence.

"Does Tony Stark know you're like this?" He asked, trying through the pain to smile victoriously. "Even if he didn't, he can see it all now and he'll be disgusted with what he sees." Kagome stopped for a moment, a sudden vulnerability that wasn't there before appeared in her body language, even if it didn't in her face and eyes, which remained still and watchful. The man laughed. "Tony Stark is so unaware of his own employees -" Kagome had had enough. She walked behind him casually and then gripped his hair harshly, slapping another hand over his mouth, her nails digging in cruelly. The gun seemed the hover in the air around them, a slight purple-ish shimmer surrounding it.

"You," She hissed. "Don't even deserve to _think_ his name, let alone speak it. I'm not his employee, nor his friend." She wrenched his head back, taking her hand away from his mouth, and looked down at him, eyes ablaze with power and her face indifferent. "I am his protector for as long as he lives, whether he banishes me from his side or not. Eternal as I am, I have learnt quite a few tricks." Her lips spread in a lazy smile, threatening him with the display of her teeth. The man, getting some bravado from… God knows where, smiled slickly.

"That doesn't change the fact that you know he'll be disgusted by you." Kagome snarled, a rage burning deep in her eyes.

"Forget the information." She said, letting go of his hair with a hard tug. "I can find out another way." She frowned, looking genuinely disappointed. "Looks like I won't be practising my wide set of skills." She said mournfully. Then the rage came back, her whole body tensing with restraint. "But you," She said vehemently. "Will still pay for your actions." Her hand rose, the gun fell into it, and she aimed carefully, before smirking. "It seems that it'll be your soul that suffers for this, not your consciousness, but," She shrugged. "Never mind. Suffering is suffering, no matter the form it's in." Then she shot him between the eyes and watched with satisfaction as the now-dead-man slumped to the carpet, which was slowly turning red around the body. "Sorry, Jarvis. No show today." She muttered.

"Don't worry, Kagome. I understand completely." Kagome watched, with reiki-enhanced eyes as his soul began to leave his body. As it did, she pushed some of her reiki into her hands, catching the soul in her hands.

Carefully, she inspected it, moving it so she could see it all. Then, she spotted what she wanted to see and a sadistic smile crossed her faced, but it was quickly replaced with cool boredom, slightly ruined by the dark enjoyment in her eyes. She took one of her hands off the soul and wiggled her fingers before entering the soul with two of them. Immediately, she heard a special kind of scream, one she rarely had the chance, and the stomach, to hear. She grabbed onto that section she saw earlier, the part of a soul that controlled the reincarnation process, and twisted it harshly, smiling in unholy glee and closing her eyes at the screech the soul emitted before quietening quickly into whimpers. She twisted it once more before letting it go. "And that is why you don't fuck with me and mine." She whispered to herself.

Kagome looked at the body and the blood and grimaced. She waved a hand, willing the body to dissipate and the blood to dissolve. She didn't want it staining the carpet. Then her eyes widened as she realised exactly what she'd done and chuckled bitterly. "No wonder Amaterasu-Sama didn't want you, Kagome." She muttered to herself, looking down at her own hands with disgust at what they were capable of. "You're a horrible creature." She looked out the window. "What happened to the pure and loving creature you used to be?" She asked helplessly. She was brought out of her reverie by a sound behind her. She ashamed when she turned and kneed the person straight in the gut without checking whose aura it was.

"Jesus." A chuckled cough came from the person she didn't, for the moment, recognise and who was now bent double. "Should know better than to come up behind you. You did warn me, after all." She blinked and saw dark hair, noticed the stature of the person and swore. She knelt next to him and lifted his face.

"Oh, God, Tony. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't realise it was you!" She said urgently, releasing him. Tony shook his head, still smiling.

"Just kind of glad I'm not unconscious, really." Trepidation filled Kagome as she looked at the other Avengers and Loki to see they were also free of the paralytic. A kind of panic overtook Kagome's mind at that precise moment, knowing that they'd seen her - not at her worst, but very nearly there. She grimaced and stood, backing away a little. She refused to show shame though, refuse to feel remorse about what she'd done. She was doing what she'd always done - protecting what was hers. The grimace shifted into a wry smile. She'd never done it front of people before, even the people she protected, except for one time. It hadn't ended well.

She lifted her chin in slight challenge. "I won't say sorry." Her eyes darkened. "He deserved it. He threatened all of you, and now he will suffer for all eternity for it." Clint and Natasha look impressed, though Steve looked a mixture of horrified and accepting. In contrast, Thor and even Bruce looked darkly pleased and she momentarily wondered why. Loki settled himself next to Tony, both of their expressions unreadable.

"We heard it, you know." Kagome frowned and met Loki's eyes.

"Heard what?" She asked, truly confused. Natasha looked at her carefully before replying for Loki.

"That horrible scream." Comprehension lit her features, followed by curiosity.

"Which one? There were two." She wondered. "The second one was louder, and distinctly more horrifying." She continued with a satisfied smile, her eyes clear of anything so dark as rage, and yet the dark satisfaction was somehow more scary than the burning rage. Natasha's lips twitched as she very carefully acknowledged that the woman in front of her still didn't trust them, was very on edge right now, and was extremely powerful. She also had ages of experience - but not without some cost. She'd obviously not had an easy time of being alive for so long, looking so young, so vulnerable, and she had suffered to survive, most likely losing some of her sanity and humanity.

"Probably the second one - it was particularly loud and horrifying." She returned with a carefully blank expression. Kagome ignored everyone else in the room and focused on the assassin. A warm smile crossed her lips, not even reaching her eyes - they remained guarded and dangerous - and she walked closer to Natasha. Clint moved slightly, ready to defend his friend, but she grabbed his arm gently, restraining him.

"And how did you feel?" Kagome asked lowly, smile still on her face. Natasha met her gaze and refused to look away.

"Scared. Worried. Understanding." Kagome rose one eyebrow at the honesty, and something in her warmed at the fact that she wouldn't be lied to by at least one person. She glanced at Clint beside her.

"And you?" Clint shrugged, but didn't really look at her, focusing his gaze on Natasha, who met his eyes calmly.

"Pretty much the same." He said casually before looking at Kagome with a seriousness that she rarely saw from him outside of missions. "But you do know that the first sign I see of you hurting any of us, I will do my very best to kill you." Kagome smiled wider.

"If that comes to pass, I will let you get as close as you can." She stopped smiling for a moment. "Though it is very likely that, if that seems to be happening, I'm either trying to keep you all safe, or am possessed - or both, so I would suggest you keep a close eye on me." She smiled sweetly again and folded her arms behind her back, spinning to face Steve, Bruce, Thor, Tony and Loki. She seemed to almost dance forward, her eyes narrowing as she tipped her head back slightly. "But you will take me as I am, or I will disappear, okay?" She was received with nods, but she still noticed that Tony kept his head down and Loki wasn't looking at her, focussing on Tony. Why hadn't they looked or spoken to her yet? Then she shot a look to Thor and Bruce. "And why are you two so very pleased?" She asked. They looked at each other for a second and shrugged.

"I am pleased by the ferocity of which you defended us all, Lady Kagome!" He said, something quite dark, yet not, in his eyes. "It is most befitting a warrior!" Kagome smirked.

"Thanks, Thor." Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Also, can you not call me lady? I had to deal with the whole formality thing for over three hundred years - it bores me now." Thor nodded with a grin.

Bruce smiled softly. "I'm just glad you're able to protect yourself just fine without your bow - and that you're willing to defend us all." Kagome nodded thoughtfully.

"You do know that it's only your association with Tony that protected you today, don't you?" She asked the avengers, particularly Steve, who frowned. The rest nodded. "I have no obligation -"

"Are you saying that you would turn your back on people who need you?" Steve accused. Kagome snorted.

"Do you _need_ me, Captain America?" She asked scornfully. Steve shook his head slightly.

"I am talking about if innocent people walking down the street were being threatened - you would just walk away?" He demanded. Kagome narrowed her eyes and shifted her stance slightly, noticing peripherally that Tony and Loki had turned to look.

"I would advise you don't pursue this question." She warned, her voice soft and low. "You won't like what you see, and you'll never be able to unsee it." Steve frowned.

"Just answer the question, Kagome." She began to smirk.

"Are you absolutely sure, Steve?" Steve groaned and rose his voice.

"Kagome! Answer me!" Kagome's expression changed immediately from scornful to dangerous.

"No! I would not." She hissed at him. "Do you know why, _dear Captain_?" Her body language stayed still, though she seemed to grow as she mocked the national icon. "Because there is no such thing as an_ innocent_ person. Every single person on that street will have committed some kind of crime in their lives and even if I did bother to risk myself to save them, what would I get in return?" Kagome's voice rose in pitch, and though she still addressed Steve, it was clear she wasn't talk about a bunch of people on a street. "Fear, hatred. I have lived _too long_ to be fooled by such naïve arguments, Steve!" She cried angrily, then quietened, her face blanking out. "When I was younger, when I was about twenty, I had the same view you do - that everyone was good until proven otherwise. What a fool I was. It took too long for me to realise that no one was good for the sake of being good. Anyone who was, was used relentlessly, taken advantage of - raped, murdered - was a victim in every way." She refocused on the captain then, her eyes haunted and angry. "You are not innocent either, Captain, are you? You have killed and felt hatred, deep in your heart." She smiled slickly. "'Take it off, what are you?' and 'I know men worth ten of you'." She mused, relishing in Steve's flinch at the repeated statements. "Does a man so capable of such hateful words deserve to be a hero – representing honour, strength, and justice?" Her whole countenance darkened suddenly. "Leave before I gut you for your offence to Tony." Steve frowned.

"Who are you to say things like that? You have no right to speak for Tony like that." As Kagome's face lit up in unholy glee, Tony cleared his throat pointedly, only to be ignored, to everyone else's great amusement.

"Who am I?" She asked amusedly. "Why I am Kagome Higurashi, Shikon no Miko, Destroyer of Naraku, Pack to Sesshoumaru-Sama and Misaki-Sama, Lord and Lady of the West, and am all that is eternal in this world." She said, voice heavy with power. "I am far superior to you, fragile human. So do not dare to lecture me about goodness." She narrowed her eyes, which flashed purple for a moment. "Get out." Almost in a daze, Steve nodded. The others followed suit after a moment of shock, with the exception of Tony and Loki. Both were staring at her with something akin to shock, but not quite. There was also something unreadable there that Kagome didn't dare look at too closely. She lifted her chin in defiance and waited for them to speak.

After a moment, Tony cleared his throat. "So, that was interesting." Loki just stared at her. Kagome rose one eyebrow. "I mean, kind of cool with how you defended me - and how did you find out about what Steve said? - and knocked Capsicle down a few notches." He turned a little more serious and met her gaze properly. "I also didn't realise how powerful you were. And may I just say, that you are sexy when you're angry." Tony smirked and Kagome couldn't help but smile in return.

"I want you." Tony and Kagome looked at Loki, shocked, with Tony spluttering slightly.

"Way to blurt it out, Reindeer Games." The inventor said, a little admiringly. Kagome, however, merely narrowed her eyes. Tony suddenly felt like he was missing something as the tension in the room went up. Loki walked forwards a little, his palms open and visible when Kagome shifted slightly, just enough that she would easily settle into a defensive position is she was attacked.

"Why?" Though the word itself was a question, the way Kagome said it made it sound like a demand.

"You are an amazing woman, powerful and full of strength." Kagome looked a strange mix between insulted and flattered, and seemed inclined to speak, but Loki continued, his expression as open as he could make it. "But more than that, you are kind and have a strong inclination to protect those you love as much as you can, with all the strength you have. You are also mischievous and playful, more than willing to tease where it will create minimal harm and generate a little chaos where you feel it's needed. Or even," Loki's eyes twinkled with amusement, "Where it would serve as entertainment." He became a little more solemn then. "You haven't had it easy, I know, and you were betrayed by the last divinity to offer their patronage and it may take time for you to do so, but I ask that you place your faith in me and trust me." Tony watch Kagome's face through Loki's speech, and though he didn't understand most of what was said, he watched as she was impassive, and then something seemed to crumble and tears rose in her eyes.

"You would _dare_ ask this of me after all that you know?" Kagome snarled aggressively, though her body language said she was more ready to flee than anything else. Her eyes never left Loki for long and when they did, it was to scan the room for exits, even though she already knew how to get out. Loki smiled a helpless smile.

"Yes." That stopped her short. "I don't ask for an answer now and I won't push you. I only ask that you think about it." Kagome frowned and straightened, standing normally now, and tucked the proposal in he mind to be looked at later, maybe with Jarvis - he was always a good source of reason.

"And thing will continue between us as normal?" Loki nodded, and the they both turned to Tony, who was watching avidly. "Well?" The inventor frowned.

"What? I don't even know what happened here." Kagome rose an eyebrow. "Yes, everything is fine, whatever." His expression turned both pleading and excited. "Explain what just happened!" He demanded playfully with a mock-severe expression. Loki and Kagome exchanged playful looks.

"No." They said in unison. Tony looked devastated, but focused his attention back to Kagome and smirked lasciviously.

"I meant what I said earlier, Kagome. You are _sexy_ when you're angry. Or being violent - or doing anything actually." Kagome blushed a little, rolling her eyes as she did her best to ignore the comment. "And that you were doing it to protect me - us," Tony whistled lowly and purred, "Alluring as hell, my dear." Kagome blushed more, and turned her face away.

"I'm going to bed." She said, almost petulantly. Tony grinned and stood.

"Great." He said joyously. "Great idea -" His eyes darkened. "We'll join you." Kagome laughed as she walked away.

"Come on then." A wicked grin touched her lips as she beckoned Tony to follow her. Knowing that something amusing was going to happen, Loki waited a moment before following.

When they got to the bedroom, Kagome rummaged around for some scarves and presented them to Tony who leered.

"Didn't know you were into bondage, Kagome." Kagome's lips widened into a grin.

"On the bed." He did what he was told - there was no way in hell he was going to argue. She attached the scarves to his wrists and legs and tied them to the head board and foot board. He frowned as something occurred to him.

"What about my clothes?" With an evil grin that somehow looked attractive, Kagome summoned a knife. Tony just looked even more excited. "You are the most amazing person I have ever met, you know that, right?" Kagome's grin lessened into a soft smile.

"Oh, yes, I know." Just then Loki came in, and laughed at Tony's predicament. Kagome turned her head to look at him and said, "Oh, good, you're here. Join us." Snickering, Loki went to the bed and lay down. Kagome settled herself between the two of them and sighed happily as Tony began to get the idea that he'd had a trick played on him.

"Hey, guys." He said, laughing nervously. "Hey, you wouldn't leave me here like this, would you?" Kagome turned over and faced Loki so Tony couldn't see her trying not to laugh. Loki was the same, though he made no effort to hide the fact that he was amused. "Loki?" Tony was ignored. "Anybody? Help me?" Still smiling, Kagome sat up and leant on his chest.

"Don't worry, I'll untie you later after a little nap." She kissed his cheek and winked, settling herself between him and Loki. Tony didn't know whether to smile or grimace as he lay there, feeling the tightness in his trousers. Loki sat up, looked him down with an amused look and lay back down, ignoring Tony's almost desperate look. The inventor sighed.

"Bastards." He ignored their sniggers.

**So, yeah, dunno where the paragraph seperator thingys have gone, but they're not on this editing thing, but whatever. Let me know how you found this chapter! Also make sure to keep an eye on my blog on Tumblr (the link is on my profile) as updates and progress, and even extracts will be put up!**

**BP**


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